Getting Unstuck

Through the years of talking with engineers in one-on-ones, there’s a common conversation that goes something like this: How do I ask for help? How do I find what I need if I don’t know where to look? What do I do if I keep getting stuck?

Try the Obvious

It can be maddening to work through an error. Why the heck isn’t this thing working? Once it’s fixed, it can feel so obvious looking back. It’s hard to know what to try when stuck in the details.

Prior to working as a Software Engineer, I started my career in the film industry as a Systems Administrator. That meant that my colleagues came to me when something didn’t work as they expected. I got a reputation as someone frustrating to call upon because I’d solve the problem and make the other person feel silly for asking for help because the fix would often be something simple.

One example: A colleague mentioned that their hard drive would not mount. They tried unplugging and replugging it, moving it between computers, and restarting the machine. They tried different cables. They checked that it was showing in the disk utility and RAID tools. So what was it? They hadn’t checked whether it was the right drive. In this case, clients delivered two hard drives to our facility at roughly the same time. My colleague grabbed the wrong one by mistake, which I learned by looking at the hard-drive and checking its barcode against our inventory system.

We assume when we’re working on a complex problem that it requires a complex solution and overlook the simple ones. When I’m stuck or helping a colleague, I start from first principles and do something like this:

1. Read and re-read the complete error message. Is there something obvious it’s saying I should do, hidden in a misleading error message or long stack trace? For example, we may see that a build failed only to find that it was due to a failed style check in the code.
2. Try the simplest thing that could fix it. Could it be a network connection issue? Have I tried restarting the machine? Is the cable connected? What happens if I back out of my code change or git stash it, does it work then?
3. Do an internal search. Do we have documentation which covers this edge case? Is this a known bug? Is another team working to resolve an outage or service degradation?
4. Find an implementation reference. Is there an example on Github or another project where someone has done what I’m trying to do? What can I learn from their implementation and how it differs from mine?
5. Do an external search. Does Stack Overflow or the like have information on the error?

If none of those things work, I’ll ask for help from a teammate or someone I suspect may know the answer.

How to Ask for Help

If I’m trying to figure something out, I try the above steps for about 30 minutes. If I’m still stuck, I ask for help, which can include asking a specific teammate, a chat channel, or posting to Stack Overflow. Here’s the format with which I’ve had the best success:

1. What I’m trying to achieve and what I’m experiencing
2. What research I’ve consulted so far
3. What isn’t working as I expect
4. What I’ve tried so far
5. A specific request

For example, let’s say we’re having trouble getting a build to pass its tests. I might post something like this:

I’m trying to build the iOS project and it’s failing the build with an error unrelated to my change. I followed the internal wiki for setting up my developer environment and I’ve checked out packages X and Y. As per the instructions, I built Y and then X, only for X’s build to fail saying that Y is missing a dependency. I’ve validated that Y has the dependency listed in its configuration file. Could you help me see if I’m doing something wrong or if Y is importing the file incorrectly?

In this example, we start by identifying our goal (build the iOS project) and what we’re seeing (an error unrelated to my change). We go through what has been tried so far (read wikis, check dependencies) and what’s not working (dependency missing). Lastly, we ask for something specific from the teammate or person with whom we’re discussing (review / file import check).

This may seem like a lot of work to ask for help! Can’t we take a shortcut and just say, the build isn’t passing? Yes, that can be a valid approach, particularly depending upon the audience. Here’s why I prefer this approach:

1. Structuring my question this way shows that I respect the time of whomever I’m asking. I’ve compiled as much information into the initial question as possible. I’m sharing the context of what I’ve looked at and tried. It requires fewer follow-up questions.
2. Preparing my questions allows me to go through a rubberduck process where I’m forced to make sure I understand what I’m asking for help with and that I’ve done due dilligence on the problem.
3. By making a specific ask, I’m more likely to attract the attention of someone who can help than if I were to say “Who knows iOS and can help me with a build problem?”. Were someone to pose such a general question, it can be intimidating to chime in since the person may know iOS and yet not know how to help with a specific iOS build problem.

What to Do If No One Can Help

Even after trying these steps and asking for help, I may not find someone who knows the answer to what I’m looking for. Then we get to an interesting fork in the road, where I’ll do one of the following:

1. Ask for a referral. Sometimes I can ask someone else for help, or the person whom I’m asking might be able to refer me to an expert on a particular topic.
2. Keep digging. Sometimes you are working at the edge of something that no one knows yet and it needs more time and investigation.
3. Re-examine what got me here. In a rare case, I may encounter something niche when I do something off the beaten path. This happened to me when I embedded a Django application in a self-contained OSX executable. I may have been the first person to ever do this. That’s not a good sign! If you’re doing something particularly unusual, it may be best to go back to more familiar ground and try a different approach.

If you find yourself getting stuck multiple times a day or you’re not sure where to start, it may be that you don’t know the resources available to you. Perhaps there’s a search engine you could use. It may be worth asking your teammates how they look for resources and see if they have a different process for searching.

There’s No Shame in Asking For Help

Asking for help or admitting you don’t know something need not be a source of shame. Calibrating when and how to ask for help takes time and practice. The most common mistake I’ve seen is to avoid asking for help out of fear of judgement. Even as you gain experience, you’ll still get stuck sometimes. Acknowledging that you don’t know the answer is a kind of super power on its own.

With that, I wish you luck and I hope you find a solution to any challenges you may encounter.