The consulting firm McKinsey &Co. encourages its consultants to build a "spike, " or perhaps it should be called a trough: a deep knowledge of a specific industry or practice.

There are several sources of information from which to find instructions for how to troubleshoot various types of problems, whether specific to co-located applications, or more general.

He says he's seen success when employees keep written records of co-workers behavior and detail the specific effects it has on the workplace.