Embracing Challenges

A Journey of Problem-Solving and Growth

This past week has been quite the journey. Following our upgrade of Jira Software, certain workflows began to falter. Transitioning work from code review to testing became impossible, halting progress.

I logged a ticket with our internal team who in turn logged a ticket with our vendor who manages the Jira Software for us. I realised that our internal teams had become complacent and just delegated the issue without actually working with the vendor to troubleshoot it. It dawned on me that accountability was lacking; issues were being shuffled around rather than addressed. This trend isn't isolated; it's symptomatic of a broader aversion to problem-solving, with many opting to pass the buck rather than engage.

Taking matters into my own hands, I initiated direct dialogue with the vendor and conducted experiments to uncover the root cause. I also reached out to Atlassian who are the owners of Jira to see if they can help us with this issue. I did the same with a couple of add-on vendors whose apps we were using. Interestingly I ended up learning more from each of them. Each one had a different style of debugging the issue. I learnt new ways of generating logs both on the server and client side. It’s amazing how much you learn if you have people more experienced than you in your circle. I recollect a very famous quote by motivational speaker Jim Rohn “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with”.In this case, I was learning a lot by interacting with various support teams. I had learnt how to capture logs, interpret them and try out new fixes.

Surprisingly I was able to identify the problem based on shared debugging and research from various support teams. It turned out that one problematic add-on which has been deprecated by Atlassian was causing this havoc. Once we disabled it things started to work smoothly. Reflecting on this experience, I realized the power of proactive problem-solving and collaborative learning. We are so reluctant to get our hands dirty because then we would be held accountable and what if we fail? Often the thought of failure prevents us from taking up challenges. My mindset also has started to change. In earlier years of my life, I too was unwilling to take risks or chances but now I raise my hand even though I don’t have any idea about the problem and how to solve it. Sometimes all it takes is that willingness to jump in and take a look and not worry about success or failure. In the end, you will learn something and that’s what matters. We are so much worried about the outcome that we fail to appreciate the whole journey of problem-solving.

In conclusion, navigating challenges demands not just technical expertise but also initiative and perseverance. It's a reminder that true progress stems from a willingness to confront obstacles head-on and embrace continuous learning