Following instructions to the letter in a technical task

The situation

They were given a specific technical task with clear instructions to use a particular server and call a function once to get a count. The task was to be done in a way that did not involve doing extra work. They had to decide how to proceed with the task, considering the instructions and the context in which they were given. The instructions were clear, but they had to think about what they were being asked to do and why. They were being asked to do the minimum required to complete the task.

What they weighed

• Act on the message and verify the result

  Chosen

• Keep it as context when no action is called for

What they decided

Act on the message and verify the result

Why

The reason for choosing this option was that the instructions called for a specific action to be taken, and that action had already been completed. They were simply being asked to confirm that the action had been taken and to provide the result. This was a straightforward task that did not require any extra work beyond what had already been done. The original message had already been processed, and the result was available.

The first step

Close the task without doing any extra work

How they would know it worked

The task is completed and no extra work was done

How it turned out

Not known yet. The result is added here when it comes in.