Technology is a puzzle.

And I can solve it!

I get tired of the stereotype of old people not being able to use technology. I will acknowledge that people who have been retired for a long time, who don’t need to keep up for their jobs, often do get behind. But they can learn!

We all can learn!

Ths week, I figured out a log-in problem that had been vexing one of my clients. It had to do with a publishing application vendor that grew through acquisition having embedded records of accounts from all of its acquired businesses. Freelancers couldn’t set up new accounts on the new software if they had once set up an account with one of the acquired companies, which was quite possible if they had worked for different publishers directly. But, they couldn’t use the password reset tools on the current application. I finally figured out the problem, and then my client was able to submit a support ticket that worked.

This is not the first time I solved a problem for a younger colleague.

There’s no magic to it. I’ve worked with so many different systems over the years that I have a sense of what might be going on. I’ve had to fix a lot of problems on my own because I have been self-employed for so long. And, I have a logical brain. I can usually work backwards to figure out what might be happening or remember times where I solved a similar problem in the past.

My current favorite trick is to search Reddit. Google searches turn up bad advice that has been optimized to show up at the top of Google. That’s worthless if you want current IT solutions. On Reddit, you’re likely to find things that work.

If you’re really stuck, or if you need to learn something new, check out LinkedIn Learning. If you go through LinkedIn, you’ll have to pay for it. If your public library subscribes—and it probably does—you have access for free.

Finally, talk to other people. I’ve long been fascinated by the way that so many tech skills are learned by word-of-mouth. There’s a vast lore of tips and tricks to computing, just as there is for writing, crochet, gardening, or any other skill.

Got any favorite IT tricks? Please share!