Tess Fernandez' blog (If broken it is, fix it you should) usually contains very technical content. Today she has posted a troubleshooting guide that will be of use to anyone who has to deal with complex problems. It comes in the form of 9 questions, with full details and examples to explain each question. For the impatient, here's the list, but I heartily recommend reading the entire post.

1. What is happening? 
2. What did you expect to happen? 
3. When is it happening? 
4. When did it start happening? 
5. How does this problem affect you? 
6. What do you think the problem is? and what data are you basing this on? 
7. What have you tried so far? 
8. What is the expected resolution? 
9. Is there anything that would prohibit certain troubleshooting steps or solutions?