Tip 11 in the continuing saga of Tips to providing Technical Support

Tip 11 is a very important tip (learned during years of experience - Starting in the Military.) Write it down!

The next time you see this problem or face this issue again may be months from now. You will remember having solved this, but you won’t remember how. Write down the conditions of the situation and the resolution. If you have time and energy, add the thought process behind the resolution. On all documents, put the path and the file name. I guarantee, you’ll need to find that document, and you won’t know where to find it!

While in the military, one of my company commanders required each of his subordinates to create 'continuity books' (actually, 3x5 cards - this was well before computers were in the hands of individuals). The information on every task you performed regularly. It included where you got the information, what you did with the information (you database types would call it ETL) and to whom you gave the competed information.

This concept has evolved but has served me well over the decades. In that time, I learned two truths:

1) I tend to be the primary user of my own documentation. As noted above, I will see a similar issue in the future. My documentation usually includes scripts or queries used before that I can use in the current situation with minor modification. (It saves time over attempting to recreate the wheel)

2) While some believe that in writing things down, the writer becomes replaceable. Both yes, and no. If you are 'irreplaceable in your job, you cannot take vacation or get promoted. With documentation, someone else can cover for you while you are on vacation (albeit slower than you would perform the same task). And, as a person who 'writes' things down, you become a valuable commodity. Consider this: YOU are reading what I have written.

Look up the Gini Coefficient. While initially applied to wealth distribution, it also applies to contributions in writing. the distribution is even more lopsided than the oft cited Pareto prinicple (80-20). 1% contribute to new content. 10% edit and modify the content of others, the remaining 'consume' the product of the others. BE that 1%. (And be able to write well.)