I've been very pleased with the direction of SSMS the last few years. As it's been separated from SQL Server releases and gets updated more often, I think the changes from v17 though v20 have been improvements. There are still issues, but it's been better. Now we finally have SSMS moving to a modern shell with the v21 preview and I'm excited to see how this changes the future of our tooling.

However, the PM for SSMS, Erin Stellato, posted a note on LinkedIn recently asking why people don't read documentation. She also asks what you want to see in 21, so respond if you think there are holes in the SSMS docs. I think this post came about because of many responses that came from people who clearly hadn't read some documentation.

I find far too often people struggling with different concepts, some of which I know a bit about and some I don't. However, for those that I don't, I can often figure out something about it quickly. A combination of Google, following links in those results, and increasingly, asking CoPilot/Some-AI  a question often helps me solve a problem by giving me direction and knowledge. I still have work to do, but it's a start.

In fact, that's how I solved a lot of the questions on SQL Server Central in the past. I'd read a question in the forums, I'd research a bit, set up an experiment, test something, and then post an answer. And at times, then getting told my solution didn't work and figuring something else out or correcting my answer since I'd missed a bit of the context.

These days, I see lots of people struggling and I don't quite understand why. It seems the art of scoping a problem, doing some research, some experiments, and coming up with a solution relatively quickly isn't common, but more uncommon. Lots of friends who have colleagues/direct reports say there are plenty of others that don't have these skills.

I'm curious for those of you willing to share, how do you go about doing some research when something doesn't work? When you get asked to do something you don't know how to do, or asked a question you can't answer, what is your process? Pick a specific example if you can and let us know how you self-educate.

If you struggle to do this, or you post online and expect someone else to help you, I'd encourage you to think about how you can become more self-sufficient and teach yourself, using the resources you have. Your employer will appreciate it and it will help further your career opportunities.