Don't Get Lost in the Maze: Understanding the XY Problem

The XY problem is a common pitfall that many developers fall into when trying to solve a problem.
Problem-SolvingBeginnerGood-Practices

Have you ever found yourself stuck on a problem, unable to make any progress, but later you realized you were trying to solve the wrong problem all along? If so, you may have fallen victim to the XY problem.

What is the XY Problem?

The XY problem can be described as:

  1. You have a problem X
  2. You mistakenly think Y is the solution to problem X
  3. You don't know how to solve Y
  4. So, you ask others how to solve Y
  5. Even if you solve Y, you still can't solve problem X

An example of the XY problem

Picture this: You are a junior developer who has just joined a new team, and you've been tasked with working on a website development project.

You think you need a Python environment to work on the website development project. So, you start trying to set up a Python environment on your machine.

However, you run into some issues and can't get the Python environment set up correctly. You ask a more experienced colleague for help, hoping they can help you solve the Python environment setup problem.

After spending some time troubleshooting the Python environment setup issue with your colleague, your experienced colleague realizes that you don't need a Python environment at all because your role is to work on the front-end part of the website using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

So in the example above,

  • Problem X: Onboard to the web development project.
  • Problem Y: Setting up the Python environment.

You would like to onboard to the web development project (problem X). You thought that setting up the Python environment is the solution to the problem X, and so you asked for help to set up the Python environment (problem Y). However, even after the Python environment is set up correctly (problem Y), you still can't onboard to the web development project (problem X).

Solution to the XY problem

XY problem is a common pitfall that many developers fall into when trying to solve a problem. In order to avoid this pitfall, and wasting time and effort on the wrong problem, it's important to take a step back and properly identify the root issue at hand.

If you are asking for help from someone, make sure you are asking for help with the underlying problem you are trying to solve, not just the solution you think will solve it. If you are the one providing help, make sure you are asking clarifying questions to understand the root issue before jumping into a solution.

Remember to always ask yourself: Am I solving the right problem?, so that you don't get lost in the maze, staying on the Problem X which really matters, but not the Problem Y which is just a distraction.