Diagnose BEFORE You PRESCRIBE

Although it's risky and hard, seek first to understand, or diagnose before you prescribe, is a correct principle manifest in many areas of life. It's the mark of all true professionals. It is critical for the optometrist, it's critical for the physician. You wouldn't have any confidence in a doctor's prescription unless you had confidence in the diagnosis.  It is very critical for the Librarian. You may waste more time and tired before getting a clue where and from which documents you will get the information you need unless you tell the librarian what are you going to do and what type of information you need for that in detail.

If you don't have confidence in the diagnosis, you won't have confidence in the prescription.   This principle is also true in sales. An effective sales person first seeks to understand the needs, the concerns, and the situation of the customer. The amateur salesman sells products; the professional sells solutions to needs and problems. It's a totally different approach. The professional learns how to diagnose, how to understand  He also learns how to relate people's needs to his products and services. And, he has to have the integrity to say, "My product or service will not meet that need" if it will not.

Diagnosing before you prescribe is also fundamental to law. The professional lawyer first gathers the facts to understand the situation, to understand the laws and precedents, before preparing a case. A good lawyer almost writes the opposing attorney's case before he writes his own.

It's also true in product design. Can you imagine someone in a company saying, "This consumer research stuff is for the birds? Let's design products." In other words, forget understanding the consumer's buying habits and motives—just design products. It would never work.

A good engineer will understand the forces, the stresses at work, before designing the bridge. A good teacher will assess the class before teaching. A good student will understand before he applies. A good parent will understand before evaluating or judging. A good Librarian listen the user’s need for information and the purpose of the information; and will direct the user to the relevant information resources accordingly.