“What Have You Tried?”

Whenever you’re involved with solving a problem with or for someone else, the most powerful and important question you can ask is: “What have you tried?”

I’ve made the mistake plenty of times of not asking this before I started working on a solution. Many, many times I would have saved myself a lot of time and numerous headaches if I’d simply asked this question first.

Why is it so great?

First, it solves two different kinds of “assumption problems,” both of which I’ve dealt with many times. One type of bad assumption is assuming that the other people have already tried the most obvious (to you) solution, so you don’t even suggest it. Oh, they locked themselves out of their house and called you to help? Well, surely they already tried the back door to see if it’s unlocked, so I won’t even suggest that. Guess what? More often than you might think, that “obvious” solution didn’t occur to them at all. If you’d asked, you’d have known.

The other type of assumption problem is the reverse – assuming they haven’t tried certain solutions. So you make a bunch of suggestions that are sound in theory but they’ve already tried and didn’t work for some reason you weren’t aware of. If you’d asked, you’d have gathered that info instead of losing credibility by suggesting things that have already failed. And hey, you might even discover that how they tried that particular solution might be why it failed – a few tweaks later and boom.

So first and foremost, you’re just solving efficiency and communication problems by asking this question early. As soon as you’re “brought in” to solve anything, it should be your first ask.

Even beyond this, the question has a deeper value. It lets you know the kinds of people you’re working with. Are they solution-oriented, having tried many things before calling you? Or did they buzz you the second they hit a speed bump? Were the things they tried sound ideas, or are they clearly still novices learning their way? Are they frustrated and defeatist, calling you in not because they expect a solution, but simply because they want to make it someone else’s problem?

A lot of my work is helping other people solve their problems. That last part is the most essential – the solutions I can bring to the table are heavily dependent on the mindsets of the people asking for my help. I know every problem is solvable, but not everyone feels the same way. Asking “What have you tried?” is a nice, non-accusatory way of discovering that.

The next time you’re asked to help solve a problem, make “What have you tried?” the first thing you try.