Relating to yesterday’s post on inertia, I wanted to pass on another nugget I’ve learned about how to approach and define problems: working backwards. I’ve found this to be useful in both technical and business situations and I use it all the time.

Basically, start with the end result you want, and figure out how to get there from here. If you can’t define the desired outcome, then step one is getting to that point.

On the technical side, this helps you define APIs, payloads, caching approaches, and overall application structure.

On the business side it can help you frame language for positioning, clarify sales language for potential customers, and help you create more useful documentation for your customers.

Give it a try – see if it works for you.