If it's a nice problem to have, don't solve it now

Re:If it's a nice problem to have, don't solve it now by greggyb on Monday August 10, 2020 @12:05PM (#24110716)

I take a different attitude to "nice to have" problems. I work on a professional services team that is massively undersized relative to demand. Our role is less than a year old within the organization. We have far more clients in need of support from my team than we can give.

This is a great problem to have - lots of pent up demand. Nevertheless, it is a problem, and we must actively strive to solve it. It's nice to have lots of demand, yet if the problem is not solved, we will be giving up future revenue. A larger team will be able to support more revenue than a smaller team.

There is no part of this situation where it is a good idea to slow down on hiring, or to compromise on hiring standards.

Ninja edit: this is in contrast to things that aren't a problem yet. E.g., in the article, the author discusses not having password reset functionality. That is not yet a problem in the absence of users. It's not a nice problem to have. It is not a problem.

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Re:If it's a nice problem to have, don't solve it now by frandroid on Monday August 10, 2020 @12:40PM (#24111162)

> It's not a nice problem to have. It is not a problem.

I think you misunderstand his word usage, though you're seemingly following the same process.

A "nice problem to have" is one that results from having success. Yes, he doesn't have the problem now, because he's got no users, so indeed, having to reset the passwords of existing users would be a "nice to have" problem.

You're already in the "nice to have" zone (clients with problems to solve!), and you want to fix those problems brought on by popularity.

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Re:If it's a nice problem to have, don't solve it now by greggyb on Monday August 10, 2020 @02:13PM (#24112244)

It's a matter of tense. I think we're all agreeing in this sub-thread.

I am focusing (perhaps too much) on the tense issues. Without tense, "no password reset mechanism", to continue using the same example, represents a problem state.

If something is a problem, it exists in the present.

If something will be a problem, with any contingency or timeline, then by definition it is not yet a problem.

Even in your own phrasing, the tense issue becomes clear:

> Yes, he doesn't have the problem now, because he's got no users, so indeed, having to reset the passwords of existing users would be a "nice to have" problem.

Specifically "... would be a "nice to have" problem." This indicates that it is not a problem, rather that it can become a problem.

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Re:If it's a nice problem to have, don't solve it now by davnicwil on Monday August 10, 2020 @12:47PM (#24111261)

Yes, spot on, this was what I wanted to get across. Thanks.

I fully agree with everything GP said, by their understanding of what I meant. But yeah, to be useful the question has to be forward looking. Would things have to change for the better for this problem to actually manifest.

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Re:If it's a nice problem to have, don't solve it now by nend on Monday August 10, 2020 @12:40PM (#24111158)

>Ninja edit: this is in contrast to things that aren't a problem yet. E.g., in the article, the author discusses not having password reset functionality. That is not yet a problem in the absence of users. It's not a nice problem to have. It is not a problem.

That's the crux of it. The headline is catchy, but the author isn't talking about nice-to-have problems. He's talking about recognizing if something is a problem right now, or only a problem at some point in the future.

IMO, the article is click-bait.

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Re:If it's a nice problem to have, don't solve it now by davnicwil on Monday August 10, 2020 @12:43PM (#24111208)

Short, information dense, titles are hard :-)

The full question I ask is "From my perspective right now, is this a nice problem to have?" - emphasis on the first part.

I certainly didn't mean for this to be click bait, just wanted to share something that's been valuable for me with others in the hope it might be useful. I might work on the title.

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Re:If it's a nice problem to have, don't solve it now by greggyb on Monday August 10, 2020 @02:08PM (#24112209)

If you're looking for unsolicited suggestions, you might consider "If it's not a problem yet, don't solve it now".

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