Well-Defined Problems

There's a saying that a well-defined problem is a problem half-solved. Personally, I think it's more than that.

In tech, we spend an enormous amount of time and effort on hiring. We sit candidates down and pepper them with coding questions that they need to solve on the spot. The biggest criticism of tech interviews is that they don't resemble what people do on a day-to-day basis. The reason is simple: you can't give people a truly ambiguous problem during an interview. So we test people on their ability to code toy problems.

But here's the thing: in a corporate setting, the code is literally the easiest part of the job.

What are the hard parts? Chasing down requirements. Coordinating people so they don't step on each other's toes. Planning within the team. Planning across teams.

Realizing that the assumptions people made when developing the plan are simply not true.

Realizing that the assumptions people made when developing the plan are simply not true, but we're committed to delivering n…