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Inside the Machine G3 to G5 / Week 09 / Monday
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Week 09 · The troubleshooting method

Monday

Notice
// Notice, name it, test one thing, write it down, ask
⏱ about 15 min

Monday: Notice

A neighbor rushes into the Fix-It Bay. "My tablet is broken! Fix it!" Rocket grabs it and starts tapping everywhere at once. Nothing changes.

Raven holds up a hand. "Wait. What do you notice? Not what you think is wrong. What do you actually see and hear?"

Rocket stops. The screen is on. An app is open. The sound is off. Nova glows. "Would you like a hint? Noticing comes before fixing. Always."

Raven writes down what she noticed. Rocket tests one change on a laptop. Nova holds up one finger.

Slow down and look

The first step of fixing anything is to notice. Noticing means looking and listening carefully before you touch anything.

Rocket wanted to fix the tablet right away. But he did not know what was wrong yet. Tapping everywhere is guessing, not fixing.

A good technician asks four noticing questions first.

  • What exactly do I see? Is the screen dark, frozen or showing a message?
  • What exactly do I hear? Is there a fan, a beep, or nothing at all?
  • When did it start? Was it working a minute ago?
  • What changed just before? A new app, a drop, a low battery?

These questions turn a big scary problem into small clear facts. Facts are things you can work with.

ASK THE RIGHT NOTICING QUESTION
  • Read the question.
  • Tap your answer.
A neighbor says the tablet was fine this morning. Which noticing question does that answer?
You hear the fan but see a dark screen. Which two senses did you use?
A new game was installed just before the trouble began. Which question caught that clue?
A guessA thing you noticed
The tablet is broken.The screen is on, but it does not change when I tap.
The Wi-Fi is dead.The Wi-Fi picture shows one bar instead of four.
The speaker is ruined.The volume shows zero and the mute sign is on.
GUESS OR NOTICE?
  • Read the question.
  • Tap your answer.
Which one is something you noticed, not a guess?
A neighbor says the sound is ruined. What should the crew do first?
Which noticing question asks about what happened just before?

Clues hide in small things

Small details are big clues. A tiny mute sign explains no sound. One Wi-Fi bar explains a frozen video.

A device often tells you what is wrong, if you look. Messages on the screen, little pictures and lights are all clues.

Noticing takes about one minute. It can save an hour of guessing.

What should you do before you touch anything on a problem device?
Is tapping everywhere at once noticing or guessing?
What is the clue when a video freezes and the Wi-Fi shows one bar?
StatementTrue or false?
Noticing comes before fixing.?
Tapping everywhere quickly is a good first step.?
A tiny mute sign can explain no sound.?
The question What changed? is not useful.?
WHY THIS EXERCISEThe noticing habit is the base of the whole method.
In the story, the sound was off. Which small sign would Rocket notice to explain that?
WHY THIS EXERCISEA small sign on the screen explained the whole problem. That is the power of noticing.
Try it
With a grown-up nearby, look at a device screen for one quiet minute.
Say three things you notice: a picture, a message, a number.
Do not fix anything yet. Just notice.
Safety first
Only look and listen. Do not press, plug or unplug anything today.

Great start, Crew Technician! You slowed down and noticed. Tomorrow you will turn what you noticed into one clear sentence.