Step 3 - Informal Investigation

If a problem cannot be solved through internal investigation of the immediate context or situation, then outsiders may have to be consulted or brought in to look at it. This is still a relatively inexpensive level of investigation, and frequently results in a resolution to problem or removal of the "snag" which is blocking further movement in an activity.

Often by this stage, specific answers are being sought to specific questions. The problem has been clearly identified, the general situation analyzed, and now the experts are being consulted for informed input.

Advances in communication and transportation have facilitated this stage of the investigation, both in terms of the high-priced experts and the lower-cost, readily-available experts on the Internet. User-groups, list-serves, email, web-sites, electronic journals and databases all contribute both information and leads to sources of information and names of experts.

This stage of the investigtion completes what can be accomplished without utilizing formal research techniques, or pilot projects. However, prior to engaging in either of those activities, it is often worthwhile to stand back and reflect on the relative cost-effectiveness of delving deeper into the problem. It is helpful to remember that problems which can not be resolved through investigation sometimes sort themselves out with the passage of time, or find resolution in the slip-stream of other events, as the joke about the court jester attests.

____[] strongly recommends some sort of formal request process be a standard operating procedure prior to moving any further in the research process, even if such is process is only for personal use. Included in such a request process should also be a decision as to whether to go the route of a pilot project or the more expensive route of formal research .