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Common Troubleshooting Myths

Copyright (C) 1996-2006 by Steve Litt


"You need to be an expert on the machine or system you're troubleshooting"
This most destructive myth costs companies millions when they hire the wrong people for the wrong jobs. If you know enough about the machine to know what tests to conduct (and it's surprising how little knowledge this takes), you can use the Universal Troubleshooting Process to narrow the problem down to the root cause. Often mere possession of the system documentation or service manual gives you enough expertise.

On the other hand, systems experts who don't use a troubleshooting process fail spectacularly.

"Troubleshooting is machine dependent"
The truth is that systems and machines may vary, but the Universal Troubleshooting Process is common to all!

"Great troubleshooters are born, not taught"
In reality, troubleshooting is a set of procedures, priorities, mental tools and attitudes that anyone can master.

"Either you can troubleshoot or you can't"
Wrong again! Just like any ability, there's a spectrum. A person can always get better. Imagine how silly this myth would sound substituting "play basketball" for the word "troubleshoot".

"I can troubleshoot -- I do it every day"
See previous myth.

"Troubleshooting isn't as important as other skills"
Tell that to the CEO when a mission-critical system crashes and revenue stops.

"All you need are diagnostic machines and software"
This myth results in millions of dollars worth of unnecessary repair work and unfixed systems. It's worst in the automotive industry, where in many shops if the diagnostic computer says "bad computer, by gosh and by golly they replace the computer regardless of the fact that the computer is being fed garbage from a bad sensor. However, this myth causes problems in every industry, as you can see from the second story this article.