Software: An Invasive Species

Companies are ecosystems. Cube walls, desks, swivel chairs, and cabinets — all this, the flora. We humans workers are it’s fauna, but so too are somewhat less intelligent species, such as multi-function peripherals, automatic pencil sharpeners, PCs, and the software that runs upon them. Toss in the occasional customer, a shifting climate dictated by business-type and the local conditions under which it’s performed — and you have a full-fledged ecosystem as difficult to quantify as winter in the amazon.

My job is to introduce new species, software that is, into what are invariably inefficient — yet functioning — business environments. Now in theory, the new software has been designed specifically and competently to meet the particular needs of each business. Visions were cast; opinions were aired; requirements were gathered; designs were vetted; procedures were documented; builds were promoted, and testing was exhaustively completed. Still, no one knows what the hell will happen when the software goes live.

Why is this? How is it that something so well planned — and so expensive in both cash and time — can lead to such unpredictable results? Because software is an invasive species. It feeds voraciously when first introduced, gobbling up person-days of productivity via formal training or the painful on-the-job, learn-by-fire technique adopted by many companies. And just as initial disturbances subside, the more sinister aspects of its presence become clear: minor tasks that were considered negligible during design turn out to require 5-10 clicks, multiple times per day. Edit checks that were introduced to protect the company and increase compliance, actually impede folks’ ability to deliver product to the customer. New dependencies in database design require peripheral systems to be updated more regularly — further leaching hours from the business day.

But there’s more — managers now request reports on data that had heretofore been unavailable. Executives push for customer self-service because, hey, why not!? Other units within the organization start using the system in unintended ways, though they were never in-scope and their requirements were never taken — then they complain the software doesn’t meet their needs.

And yet, time passes — tweaks are inserted, workarounds developed, knowledge gained. Folks discover shortcuts, and they whisper them across the landscape of cubes and around the watering  hole. The invader integrates, balance is regained. Promised efficiencies are realized but their source forgotten. Reports and data integration provide the business insight both internal and external. And the source of this too is forgotten. The new species melds into the background, and the benefits it has brought become just another part of the scenery.

Ah, but the initial turmoil and upheaval — those scars last forever.