what to do first?

I believe your supervisor is right. Find the root cause though it is not easy as it seems. The problem may have been caused by another cause and so forth and so on. It is a chain of problematic events that by tracing would lead to the root cause. Fixing the direct cause may not solve it and may recur while going to the root would eliminate the problem. Merry christmas.

I too fix the issue first before i go investigate further on the root cause. Because if i don't get rid of the problem, for my job for instance, customers will be yelling at you and saying bad words to you because they want their problem to be fix right then and there. So i have to give the customers what they want and check on the root of the problem.

You should solve the problem first, then go back and find out where it came from. People don't want you to find a needle in a haystack, they want you to solve the problem and then keep it from happening again. You boss thinks long term but you are trained to think short term.

being professional I think we should first resolve the error and to be perfectionist we should know the root cause first of the error.

I think your question of the process of solving a problem is just about different problem-solving habits. In terms of working, the most important thing is the outcoming. If you can avoid making the same mistake afterwards, truely speaking, your boss needn't care about whether you solve problem first or find the root cause first. Just relax, and believe yourself :)

Hi asilah, How do you solve the problem without knowing the root cause for the problem. There are different kinds of approach in solving a problem. The approach to solve a problem 1. Know the root cause of the problem and he exact location of existence of the problem and do the necessary changes to correct the error(This is the most preffered way of solving a problem either in software programming, data center, admin related, or in personal life.) 2. Trail and error based on the errors and giving another trial(suggested solutions) if the error is not rectified. But this way it is more time consuming and the exact problem is not known. Have fun working Happy Living Calpro

Every error can be traced back to something that caused it. If you attend to the cause,the chances of committing similar error in future is minimized.If the root cause of the error is not eliminated,it may create errors on many occasions.More the number of variables associated in a problem and more the type of their relationships,the more the chances of making error. In an inter-related complex problem needing complex analysis,the chances of committing a error is more.

Just do it..find the problem and fix it as soon as possible . It doesn't matter the root cause or else..the important is don't waste your valuable time.