Over the last few days I have come to the realization that we as a society are focused more on treating the symptoms of a problem rather than finding the source.
Example. I called my neurologist yesterday because of some very sudden and very painful headaches. I wanted to know if he wanted me to come in or what he suggested. After waiting about 30 minutes for a return phone call the nurse finally calls me back and says that she is calling in a prescription for me. I don’t want a prescription! I want to know what is wrong!
But that’s the way we work as a culture now. Don’t find the root of the problem (and get a solution), just keep on treating the symptoms, even if they get worse.
I see this kind of behavior in developers as well. A client calls with a bug, they want it fixed as soon as possible. The developer takes a look at it but doesn’t look for a bug, instead he looks for the easiest fix for the problem, which is usually just fixing the symptoms. Later on the problem arises again and again and again until finally it is costing too much to just treat the symptoms and the problem has to be found. Now that they have wasted so much money on treating the problem will the company that the developer works for want to continue trying to support that client? Will the client want to stay with a company that does not really help them but makes them wait even longer? Probably not.