
Ask HN: What was the last ambiguous problem you worked on? - kostarelo
I see and hear a lot around that a good value you should have is working towards ambiguous problems and finding your way to the solution, often with no guidance from above.<p>I am trying to understand the line between ambiguous statements and obvious problems with no clear solution or specifications.
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gaspoweredcat
im not sure but i believe mine falls into the latter category of obvious
problems with unclear solutions however i can generally adapt to most
problems, when people ask my skill set i struggle to answer, im not an expert
in any one area off hand but if a problem requires it ill simply learn
whatever is required to achieve the end result

i do work for a few places that deal with recycled and grey market tech. im
often tasked with problems which dont have a solution, one example is the
phones you see in stores playing demo loops etc, after the phone comes off the
shop floors theyre usually simply auctioned off in batches as is, my task is
to find a way to remove that demo software and make the device into a standard
saleable unit

how this is done has a different answer for near every device and can range
from simple software tricks to full jtag operations. i have no aid from OEMs
on this or even any documentation, i just have to "wing it"

id never really considered it a skill as such, its just something ive always
done. ill rarely use instructions or set methods for anything, i guess doing
that over many years has made me pretty used to working with the unknown and
may be the reason im successful with particular problems others arent, i just
approach it in a different way.

