Fix It One Level Deeper

The Concept

Recently I read a great article called Try to Fix It One Level Deeper by Alex Kladov, in which he discusses a unique (to me) approach to squashing software bugs. Instead of just fixing the bug at hand, Alex encourages the reader, and his team to dig one level deeper. Really determine why the bug exists at all. Is this parameter really being mishandled? Or should we even be asking for this parameter?

Not everything can suffer and endless inquisition of why’s, but some can, and it seems we all profit by following Alex’s example. In Alex’s case, his team was not only able to solve their initial bugs, but squash an entire class of bugs. And now, instead of solving one individual problem, a whole group of problems will never exist!

Other Applications

This got me thinking about other issues I deal with. Our church works with the homeless in our area. We generally choose to help feed and clothe people. But what’s the greater issue here? Is it a mouth that needs to be fed? Of course, but could we solve a whole class of issues by looking one level deeper? Why does our town have so many people in need of food, clothes, and shelter?

Maybe something less serious though! I keep going to the fork drawer and finding no clean forks. Could I wash a singular fork? Of course! But could I also load the dishwasher and ensure everyone has a fork later? Even better!

Take some time this week, I bet you can find a few opportunities to Fix It One Level Deeper