In the company I work for we have three service techs, one who has been doing service for over 20 years, one who was an installer for a few years and one who was an installer, not a very good one, and due to injury was placed in service. The first two guys are great at their job and I think a lot of their skills come from years in the field but mostly from being able to think logically. The third guy no matter how many time you explain something to him just doesn't seem to sink in. Part of troubleshooting is being able to apply past experience, if applicable, and if it something new being able to take it logically piece by piece to break down the problem into manageable chunks. If you took somebody who is mechanically inclined, who grew up in a shop and is a hands-on kind of person they typically are very logical thinkers, whereas if you took somebody who is interested in the arts they are more creative thinkers who can't follow logic as easily. A good troubleshooter, in my opinion, has a balanced mindset with the logic to break down the problem and the creativity to come up with a solution.
