Raising the alarm

I was doing some work with a website when suddenly, the connection failed. I couldn’t get anything done.

Do I send an email? Do I make a phone call? Open a support ticket? Raise the alarm?

Instead, I decided to shift to another project for a few minutes. When I returned, my connection to the website was working once again, and I was back to work.

In the time it would have taken me to begin troubleshooting and to seek technical support, the issue had resolved itself (someone was likely working behind the scenes to fix a bug).

The lesson here is not to ignore problems. Rather, it’s to know the difference between an issue that needs immediate attention, and a minor hiccup that will disappear in short order.

Yes, raise the alarm when necessary ... but also know that it’s not always necessary.