I came across something at work that I put off to the side for a while. It was something that is important and prevented sales of an item. I thought I understood the issue to resolve it and submitted my work. Afterwards I got a question about the item. It’s still inactive. After spinning my wheels trying to learn something out of my domain, I have spent hours trying to learn something that still doesn’t make much sense because of the language being used to classify what would be a resolution the issue. After spinning my wheels I decided to schedule a call tomorrow to talk about it with the expert on another team that knows this stuff. I’m introverted and talking through things doesn’t come up as the first solution for me. I tend to do things on my own even at the expense of my own time. I’m doing toastmasters to get better at communicating with others as well as learning how to be a better professional. My mind tends to overthink things pretty badly. Any insights on how to resolve issues more quickly would be appreciated. Thanks! TC: 65k
My experience has been that people who struggle in silence generally do so because they have anxiety about their own abilities and are trying to hide what they think are shortcomings. The Managers Path discusses this briefly. There’s nothing wrong with asking questions. There are things you don’t know and no one expects you to know. My rule of thumb is to try something for an hour then ask for help if you don’t make any significant progress. Come equipped with questions and explain what you tried and why you tried it. All jobs are temporary, and you’ll likely switch companies or teams or have the people around you change in a few years at maximum. The worst thing that can happen when you ask for help is someone thinks you’re stupid, but that really doesn’t matter because they’ll be out of your life in a few months and you’ll end the interaction better equipped to deal with similar problems in the future.
I appreciate the thorough response. 👏 Your comment is spot on. I have suffered through great amounts of anxiety due to coming from a background where I was judged severely. The managers path is a book that seems like it’s heavily skewed towards tech folks. I like your rule of thumb with limiting solo learning for an hour. I’ll try that out. I’m lucky with my current company people feel valued and stick around for a few years.
The best thing you can do is practice.
Knowing when to stop hitting the wall and reach out for help is a problem solving skill. Don’t beat yourself up for using it.
Thanks for the positivity. I’m learning to be kinder towards myself.