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Here's an example of an end-run. I had a 6 month secondment to the USA at a previous job, and I needed a server to do data analysis on. It would have taken ov

Here's an example of an end-run. I had a 6 month secondment to the USA at a previous job, and I needed a server to do data analysis on. It would have taken over 6 months to get one provisioned for me because of "process". I had a laptop which I brought with me from Australia. It wasn't in the asset register in the USA, so I was entitled to a computer. I ordered the most highly specced desktop build available, put it into the empty cubicle next to mine, and spun it up as a development server. It didn't have backups, but that was OK because I never worked with primary data on it and all my work got committed back to Perforce daily. Strictly it was very much against policy, but policy would have meant I spent 6 months sitting on my hands. My manager "hustled" for me and did an end run around process.

snovv_crash 7y ago
That's fine because it isn't contagious. If your rulebreaking bites you, the entire company's customer base won't even know.
- marcus_holmes 7y ago
  no no no no. I've seen this a hundred times[0]. That service becomes the source for a management report. That management report contains useful data that the CEO looks at weekly and uses to build his board report. The original Aussie guy leaves, but leaves the laptop behind because it's not his. He also doesn't document it (because that would get him in trouble for running a server on a laptop). ...Years pass... The laptop finally dies. The CEO is furious because he can't create his report. He leans on the IT manager. The IT manager has no freaking idea where this report is coming from or who makes it. They lean on the Support team to find out which server produces this report. The Support team drop everything to work out wtf is going on, because this suddenly became their #1 priority. Eventually, someone finds the decaying husk of the laptop, and works out what's going on. They put together a plan for creating a supported server to do the same thing. It'll take weeks, because they have to provision a server properly through the usual channels. CEO has a rant at the entire IT department for not supporting critical business processes, and not being agile enough to support the business. IT manager takes a beating in the next management reviews. No-one is happy. [0]usually a rogue spreadsheet rather than server. The worst case I saw was an Excel spreadsheet in a business-critical department running on a user machine with a post-it note on it saying "don't turn this machine off". If the logged-in user name wasn't the same as the temp who had originally built it, the spreadsheet refused to work and the department ground to a halt.
  - snovv_crash 7y ago
    Slippery slope fallacy. We're talking about temporary measures to get things done. If you don't pay back the technical debt, then sure. It always comes back to haunt you.
    - marcus_holmes 7y ago
      I would agree with you, except I've seen it happen so freaking often
    - caro_douglos 7y ago
      If you have worked in support this tends to be less fallacy and more reality. The point is that when cutting corners in the purchasing process people often are fed up or too much in a hurry....so things are not documented the way something should be for production. When these process jumpers leave the “tech debt” Piper is paid via your support team/IT burnout.
HappyDreamer 7y ago
I hope you don't mind -- to me that sounds like an off-topic example. What you did, was good for you and the others. Whilst the one you replied to, wrote about doing things that would be good for you, but bad for others: > ... benefit rule-breakers at the expense of everyone else, including the customers

snovv_crash 7y ago

That's fine because it isn't contagious. If your rulebreaking bites you, the entire company's customer base won't even know.

marcus_holmes 7y ago
no no no no. I've seen this a hundred times[0]. That service becomes the source for a management report. That management report contains useful data that the CEO looks at weekly and uses to build his board report. The original Aussie guy leaves, but leaves the laptop behind because it's not his. He also doesn't document it (because that would get him in trouble for running a server on a laptop). ...Years pass... The laptop finally dies. The CEO is furious because he can't create his report. He leans on the IT manager. The IT manager has no freaking idea where this report is coming from or who makes it. They lean on the Support team to find out which server produces this report. The Support team drop everything to work out wtf is going on, because this suddenly became their #1 priority. Eventually, someone finds the decaying husk of the laptop, and works out what's going on. They put together a plan for creating a supported server to do the same thing. It'll take weeks, because they have to provision a server properly through the usual channels. CEO has a rant at the entire IT department for not supporting critical business processes, and not being agile enough to support the business. IT manager takes a beating in the next management reviews. No-one is happy. [0]usually a rogue spreadsheet rather than server. The worst case I saw was an Excel spreadsheet in a business-critical department running on a user machine with a post-it note on it saying "don't turn this machine off". If the logged-in user name wasn't the same as the temp who had originally built it, the spreadsheet refused to work and the department ground to a halt.
- snovv_crash 7y ago
  Slippery slope fallacy. We're talking about temporary measures to get things done. If you don't pay back the technical debt, then sure. It always comes back to haunt you.
  - marcus_holmes 7y ago
    I would agree with you, except I've seen it happen so freaking often
  - caro_douglos 7y ago
    If you have worked in support this tends to be less fallacy and more reality. The point is that when cutting corners in the purchasing process people often are fed up or too much in a hurry....so things are not documented the way something should be for production. When these process jumpers leave the “tech debt” Piper is paid via your support team/IT burnout.

HappyDreamer 7y ago

I hope you don't mind -- to me that sounds like an off-topic example. What you did, was good for you and the others. Whilst the one you replied to, wrote about doing things that would be good for you, but bad for others: > ... benefit rule-breakers at the expense of everyone else, including the customers