Why reinvent the wheel?

Somebody has had your problem before

Sometimes we get stuck, sometimes we need to know…

• How to be a better manager?
• How to estimate?
• What should we do about our H.R. policies?
• Is there a good restaurant in Mansfield?

If you don’t know what to do next, rest assured, somebody has had the problem before.  More often than not, somebody has written about it on the web.

But there is a problem with the web

It is very, very big, and lots of it falls somewhere between fluff and drivel.

So how do you find something useful on the net?

1. Start with Wikipedia

It isn’t always right, there are authors who are spoilers, but it will give you more than Google and the links at the bottom of the articles might be priceless.

2. Add the technical stuff

If you google sexual attraction I take no responsibility for where you will end up.  If you google “sexual attraction” and add “standard deviation” or “PhD” you won’t look quite so depraved if your spouse catches you. Hell, you might even learn something.

3. Use Google advanced search

You can do all sorts of whiz-bang things: search within a particular site, add words, take words away, you can even search by “reading level” — Apparently I write in intermediate English. I’m going to add that to my C.V. along with my basic French.

4. Be critical

Remember the acronym C.A.R.S.  Is the information…

• Credible — what does the author’s bio say?
• Accurate — is the information up to date, does it leave out important facts?
• Reasonable — nobody is totally objective, least of all me, but is the information obviously biased?
• Supported — does it contain references to other materials?

5. Remember your youth

If all else fails, go to the library. It might be a bit dusty, but if somebody has gone to the effort of writing a book about it, it might just be worth reading.

There is nothing new under the sun

Somebody, somewhere has had your exact same problem before. If you look then you might just find the solution to your problem.

Why reinvent the wheel?