Finding the most important problems to solve

The problem with OSS is that there are too many problems. We don’t have to look too hard to find a problem that needs solving.

An inter-related issue is that we’re (almost always) constrained by resources and aren’t able to solve every problem we find. I have a theory – As much as you are skilled at solving OSS problems, it’s actually your skill at deciding which problem to solve that’s more important.

With continuous release methodologies gaining favour, it’s easy to prioritise on the most urgent or easiest problems to solve. But what if we were to apply the Warren Buffett 20 punch-card approach to tackling OSS problems?

I could improve your ultimate financial welfare by giving you a ticket with only twenty slots in it so that you had twenty punches – representing all the investments that you got to make in a lifetime. And once you’d punched through the card, you couldn’t make any more investments at all. Under those rules, you’d really think carefully about what you did, and you’d be forced to load up on what you’d really thought about. So you’d do so much better.”
Warren Buffett
.

I’m going through this exact dilemma at the moment – am I so busy giving attention to the obvious problems that I’m not allowing enough time to discover the most important ones? I figure that anyone can see and get caught up in the noise of the obvious problems, but only a rare few can listen through it…

If this article was helpful, subscribe to the Passionate About OSS Blog to get each new post sent directly to your inbox. 100% free of charge and free of spam.

Our Solutions

Share:

Most Recent Articles

No telco wants to buy an OSS/BSS

When you’re a senior exec in a telco and you’ve been made responsible for allocating resources, it’s unlikely that you ever think, “gee, we really

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.