The Art of Problem Solving

What do you do when things go wrong? Problem solving is a learned skill that requires determination, investigation and risk. That last word is probably not what you wanted to read but its true. You may have to try a possible solution that also brings the potential for making things worse.
What is your first response when something unexpected happens? The key in any situation is not to panic because your first response if your panicked is probably not the correct one. I have been in a very high profile show that had a cue go wrong and instantly the pressure of the entire show at that moment was sitting on my shoulders and my reputation. Yes, it seemed as though all the blood drained from my body, as my heart raced and adrenaline shot out of my veins, but I had to take quick, LOGICAL action to fix the embarrassing miscue. Unfortunately my first action of choice was the wrong one.(not good!) My second action was the right one but it did not erase the awkwardness of the moment. Perhaps more about that incident in a later post.
Not all problems are in the heat of the moment, some problems take place during preparation. Many of the calls I have recieved are those who are simply trying to set up their computers to run the presentation. Those who have used PowerPoint for years are often discouraged because the way to get the presentation on the screen is no longer fn+F8. After pressing every fn+ combination they can think of they finally call for help. If you want to be better at problem solving you need to be determined to find the answer by research and investigation. I know that MediaShout, for example, clearly documents that Extended Desktop is necessary for proper display of your presentation. I must admit that I am not much of a reader of manuals and books but if its on a computer screen it seems to decrease my attention deficit. This is how we learn. If you get an error when running any program there will often be an error message or code. Write it down or copy it and paste it into "The Google" and browse the results looking for clear explanations and answers.
People will sometime ask me how I know so much about computers. I tell them every time, I have had lots of problems with computers and in searching for answers I learned a lot. As I read and investigated some solutions suggested changing, editing or deleting things I was unsure of, which is where the risk comes in. Not every solution worked and I had to continue to the next one. A PC I built suddenly started crashing and not restarting, not loading windows, and I spent 3 months trying to fix it. I literally spend over 100 hours trying to get my creation to run again. Finally, my wife said it was time to bury it and so we went and bought a new one. I later realized that the Motherboard was bad and used many parts to complete a new barebones system.

So my point is this, when you have a problem search out the answer and be willing to try the solutions you find. Don't panic when something goes wrong, think it through clearly and logically. If one day everything works fine and the next day it doesn't, consider these things: Automatic updates from Windows or other software, installation of software or possibly the misadventure of another user. Remember this, it's not always the computers fault.