Solve problems in your daily life while increasing your product experience

At this point in my life it’s pretty clear that I like a specific set of things. Hanging out with my son, Product Management, Music Production, and Gaming.

It’s interesting how my career has grown the last 5 years however it couldn’t have happened without my experiences and attention to detail with the video game industry.

As an example, I understand a software flop and all of the things to avoid with product management because I’ve been the kid that read up on a video game for months or even years prior to a release. Then the game gets released and it’s straight up garbage! Like, you ask yourself “where is all the stuff they promised in the media?”. Trust me, you get enraged and wonder to yourself “If I was working there I would slap some sense into that team. Who let this happen?!?!”

More recently (tonight) I realized that since buying my latest router (Almond 2015) my xbox live connection has had bad moments. Lag in video games (rocket league) and download times for video games have suffered. I also noticed my fire tv stick was a bit rocky.

I have decided to dedicate a couple of hours to not only determine the problem but fix the issue.

1. I find out how to determine the network speed on an xbox one (it’s at 2 Mbps)
2. I realize my Nat Type is labeled as strict
3. I read up for 30 minutes on many different ways to solve the Nat type problem
4. I get the nat type fixed
5. My download speed is still 2mbps
6. I read up for another 45 minutes on how to improve my mbps
7. I download an android app called “Wifi Analyzer”
8. I visually see my router was set to channel 1 and all other routers were covering that range of channels
9. I move it to a less noisy channel

I have increased my Mbps on my xbox one from 2mbps to 35.30mbps.

This type of troubleshooting for myself has carried me so far in my career. This type of problem solving is not taught in colleges or any text books. It’s sure determination and lack of giving up on the problem.

The ironic part is that the router I use at home is the same router model that we use on our products at work. So when this comes up as a problem to solve at work for any reason, guess who is going to have the out of the box solution?

All of it thanks to trying to reduce the lag and get an edge on my opponents in video games.

Moral of the story, if you’re good at solving problems on your own with your own resources, eventually someone will pay you decent money for doing work you legitimately enjoy. I’m living the dream at work because I taught myself most of my skills on my own.

My gaming side has taught me so much about technology, troubleshooting, and what good software looks like in comparison to really bad software.