On how I tackle a problem
tldr; have a process and focus!
I was with my cousin the other day who was preparing for his exams. He complained to me that whenever he was faced with a mathematical problem that seemed too big/challenging, he got bogged down by it and ended up giving up. I told him a story;
Assume you met a guy at a party and you don’t know him already. Would you go talk to him? He said, No. I further asked him, would you do it if I introduced you to the person? He said, Yes. I then asked him what would you talk about? He said, I’d start by getting to know him better.
I told him, boy, there’s your solution.
I recently changed my job. I was busy setting up my machine on my first day at the new job when my colleague came up to me and told me that we have a Big Data problem at hand.
Whoa, what’s Big Data?!
Breaking the Ice: Every problem seems difficult at first. We don’t know how to solve it. And, that’s the exciting part. The first thing I get to is ‘breaking the ice’ — getting to know more about the problem. Getting introduced to the problem.
I introduced myself to Big Data problems, our scenario and how we would tackle it.
Getting Familiar with the problem: Once we have been introduced to a problem, the next step is to gather as much knowledge about the problem as possible.
I started reading up resources on our problem and started understanding the ‘big’ data we had.
Solving the root problem: This is very important. I often find myself telling not to be burdened by how big the problem is. Solving it step by step always works. The best idea is break the big problem and figure out a chunk that’s independent of all others. A chunk whose presence or absence won’t disturb others. That’s the chunk you have to get started with.
Integrating it: The next obvious step is to link these small chunks. And suddenly, the dots look connected. We are getting to something.
Iterate: I’d typically go back and look at the integrated module and keep on refining it over and over until I realize there is no scope left.
Now when I look back, I realize that almost all the problems we face have a definite process of resolution.
I meet a new person:
I’d want to be introduced (break the ice), I’d want to know him better (getting familiar), I’d start figuring out what is that something that would keep us going — something that we share (getting to the root cause of our relation), I’d keep track of the things we share to make it a story to share for a lifetime (integrating the story), I’d keep connecting with him frequently to stay updated (iterate)
And I apply these very steps to my big data problem, making friends and it works!
