Swimming Upstream
The Washington Post broke two stories this week1 2 detailing severe problems with the U.S. organ transplant network, due largely to “aged software, periodic system failures, mistakes in programming and overreliance on manual input of data.” Sound familiar? If you’re a Product or Engineering Manager, this paragraph might strike an especially poignant chord:
“They have placed on their product roadmap things like artificial intelligence, mobile delivery of functionality and advanced predictive modeling,” the team wrote. “Where UNOS should be focused on getting the basics right for the core functionality before they layer in additional complexity … they instead seem intent on adding shiny technology and distracting program stakeholders.”
These exact problems are tragically common in the software industry; which, to some extent, is now every industry. Software ate the world fast, and it will be a long time before we have enough engineering and management experience to collectively know what we’re doing.
If you find yourself working in an ineffectual organization that seems Too Big to Change (or simply too rigid), you can still make a difference. Let’s talk about how.
The first principle is to lead from the front. Don’t wait for marching orders that may never come. Have a vision, and share it. Take action, and lead by example. If you’re a Software Engineer working on a low-quality codebase, write the tests you wish you had. Fix the bugs no one wants to deal with. Do the right thing, and make it easy for others to follow suit.
Be the change you want to see happen.
—Arleen Lorrance, The Love Project; often misattributed to Mohandas Gandhi
A second, underrated avenue is to gain allies in positions of power. If you don’t have regular 1:1 meetings with your boss’s boss’s boss, invite them. If they decline monthly meetings, try quarterly. Send them proposals, and solicit their review. Ask and offer counsel. Establish and maintain communication with the powers that be.
When an organization has remained ineffective for a long time, an insidious misconception can take root that anyone in upper management must be either a power-hungry fat cat or a simpleton. Don’t you believe it. It’s no less naive to think people in positions of authority are all devils than it is to believe they’re all angels. Somebody near the top wants the same thing you do, and would be grateful to know you’re ready to help fix whatever’s broken.
Nobody’s right if everybody’s wrong.
—Buffalo Springfield, For What It’s Worth
There’s one more technique we need to discuss, and it’s not so much something you do, as something you must not do: Don’t coast. Act with urgency, and take pride in your work.
During World War II, the OSS (forerunner of the CIA) published a Simple Sabotage Field Manual3 to help Ally sympathizers in Axis-controlled countries deliberately inhibit their own organizations’ effectiveness. It’s full of gems like the following:
“Let cutting tools grow dull. They will be inefficient, will slow down production, and may damage the materials and parts you use them on.”
“Never pass on your skill and experience to a new or less skillful worker.”
“Snarl up administration in every possible way. Fill out forms illegibly so that they will have to be done over; make mistakes or omit requested information in forms.”
The principles of Simple Sabotage also work in reverse. Even in the midst of a bureaucratic logjam, a few cooperating individuals can establish a working value chain. Sharpen your tools, share your knowledge, and eliminate anything that artificially bogs your team down.
Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.
—attributed to George Carlin
Finally, if all else fails, move on. You owe it to yourself to work in an environment where your worth is evident. If you can’t move forward, take the Skyways sideways to your next adventure.
Thanks to Ivan Viro for calling attention to the Open Culture article about the Simple Sabotage Field Manual.