Speed Up Your Problems
When I first started my job there was no end of tasks that I could get my informancing hands on and improve. There was a lot of data sitting around in what I’ve called silos. That is, the data existed in a database but that database was not connected with other databases or the access to that database was limited.
In an organization it is sometimes important to block off data from one department to the next. However, that blocking off of data should always be for reasons of confidentiality. What was happening here was that different areas were working independently and closing off the information that could and should be used by other areas. As a result, the was no standard way of identifying and cataloging information.
This is bad. If I had to choose between gathering data and then quickly losing it into a system versus not gathering the data at all, I’d choose the latter. At least that way, I don’t waste my time doing a task I never get anything out of.
So, the solution was to make this information more accessible. This is merely a technological issue and is therefore easy to do. Build database, Design and build an app and Whammo, you’re there.
Don’t let anybody tell you that technology issues are difficult. They really aren’t. The examination, compilation, and integration of data is usually pretty easy to handle. Computers are excellent machines for gathering that. All it takes is development time, money and requirements. The hard part to any technological problem is the human element. The difficulty is determining what part is the human part and what part is the computer’s problem.
After compiling a few database silos together, I started seeing all sorts of issues come up. People weren’t able to find their data. The data didn’t match up with the data coming from this other area. All sorts of complaints. These complaints had exponentially increased after the system was put in place.
What had happened? The computer sped up the process. So any problems in the process were also sped up. Before the problems were hidden behind a serious of human interactions. Which, are often filled with miscommunication and are one on one. So if person A requested some information from person B and got bad information, person C never heard about it. So, while many people were having problems, it didn’t become apparent that these problems were organization wide. They all thought it was just their particular piece of data that was incorrectly pulled, filed, etc.
The speed up had one really good outcome:The problem with the system immediately became apparent. The real problem with system was the human problem of classification. There were no standards in place to label the data. A “customer” here was a “consumer” there. Some addresses included the zip codes as 9 digit numbers. Some had them as 5. Customer names were stored in one field here and in first, middle, last name fields over there.
If the humans using the system can’t figure out what they want, what chance does the system have in fulfilling the request? While computers can analyze responses well, they can’t read minds. (yet)
A successful IT project should take into account the human element, if it exists. In the above case, I understood that this was going to be a problem. In my system, I was particularly concerned about internal consistency. However, I knew that the data stored was inconsistent. Sometimes the best approach is to allow the problem to occur. Once it occurs then it becomes obvious that it is indeed a problem.
Once it became obvious what the problem was, the relevant staff went in and adjusted their data to a standard the organization came up with.
