Monday, September 06, 2004
Imposing structure on chaos
I know, I've been away for a while. Last week I was getting established with a new customer. I wish I could say that I was confident that I'd succeeded, but I can't and I'm not.
The location is pleasant enough and the people are OK, when I get to meet them. The problem is; I'm having difficulty getting started. I've overcome all the immediate problems like: how to get here, where to park and where the coffee machine (or in my case water-cooler) is. I've still to really tackle the vexed question of security, but at least that is underway.
No, the problem I have is that I need to talk to the people who are involved with a particular system, both the business which commissioned it and uses it and the IT people who created it and maintain it. I can't seem to find the people I need. I know there are problems but I'm left sending eMails, reading documentation and feeling a bit frustrated.
This is where the "structure on chaos" comes in. I'm sure the documentation isn't really chaotic but I don't have a "start here" instruction or a table-of-contents. The result is like jumping into the middle of a novel (and not being sure whether you're reading the final version or a draft as well!). Still, enough whining, back to the grindstone.
The location is pleasant enough and the people are OK, when I get to meet them. The problem is; I'm having difficulty getting started. I've overcome all the immediate problems like: how to get here, where to park and where the coffee machine (or in my case water-cooler) is. I've still to really tackle the vexed question of security, but at least that is underway.
No, the problem I have is that I need to talk to the people who are involved with a particular system, both the business which commissioned it and uses it and the IT people who created it and maintain it. I can't seem to find the people I need. I know there are problems but I'm left sending eMails, reading documentation and feeling a bit frustrated.
This is where the "structure on chaos" comes in. I'm sure the documentation isn't really chaotic but I don't have a "start here" instruction or a table-of-contents. The result is like jumping into the middle of a novel (and not being sure whether you're reading the final version or a draft as well!). Still, enough whining, back to the grindstone.
# posted by tom_gillies @ 1:37 PM 
