It's that 6th-sense gut instinct that separates the sheep from the goats in troubleshooting. Maybe it comes from years of experience, or from a thorough training in seeing the "big picture" when it comes to a problem, but you either got it or you don't. The best guys at it that I have worked with seem to be able to almost see or smell where the trouble spot is and know where to start looking. Any amateur can follow a flow chart and waste 6 man-days locating the source of trouble starting with item A and troubleshooting all the way through to item Z, but the best guys get to the problem much much quicker. That's the part that can't be taught.
