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Most of the IT industry is about automating tasks that would otherwise have to be done manually. Many of us here, myself included, are employed to do precisely

Most of the IT industry is about automating tasks that would otherwise have to be done manually. Many of us here, myself included, are employed to do precisely this kind of thing on a full-time basis. If you've come up with a way to make your employer's business processes more efficient, that's a good thing. You should share your work with the relevant people, talk about it with your manager and the people who are doing the work manually, and see where things go from there. What will the reaction be? I don't know. In a healthy company with sensible people, they'll appreciate your initiative, and if they feel it's something that will help them they may adopt it (if they agree with your assessment of its value and usefulness). If the company you work for has a toxic culture where everyone only cares about their own short-term interests, it could backfire in some of the ways other commenters have suggested. I don't know how to deal with the latter case other than to just plow ahead anyway. Think about this as one instance in a long term pattern of work philosophy, not as a once-off thing. If, throughout your career, you consistently look out for ways to improve things for the organisation you work for, including but not limited to automating manual tasks (and importantly, if you do so in a relevant and actually helpful way), you'll develop a reputation as someone is valuable and may be worth promoting or hiring to better positions where you can participate in or oversee IT projects. In this specific instance being discussed here, the outcome might or might not be a good one, but as a general approach to your career I think yours is a good approach to take and will serve you well. But do communicate as much as possible with colleagues as soon as you have a proof of concept, since you need to validate it from an organisational as well as a technical perspective.

nerbert 4y ago
> If you've come up with a way to make your employer's business processes more efficient, that's a good thing. Reading your comment, common sense woud agree with you. But it feels like you're reversing things. IF (and only if) OP's company promotes a healthy culture, that initiative IS actually positive (because OP doesn't have to worry too much about the outcome, they know they'll be rewarded and well received by other employees). If the culture is toxis / incompetent, there is very little benefit to that: OP would face the backlash of other employees, wouldn't be rewarded by their bosses, and other employees might face negative consequences for OP's initiatives. There ARE definitely cases and culture where optimization isn't a desirable trait.

nerbert 4y ago

> If you've come up with a way to make your employer's business processes more efficient, that's a good thing. Reading your comment, common sense woud agree with you. But it feels like you're reversing things. IF (and only if) OP's company promotes a healthy culture, that initiative IS actually positive (because OP doesn't have to worry too much about the outcome, they know they'll be rewarded and well received by other employees). If the culture is toxis / incompetent, there is very little benefit to that: OP would face the backlash of other employees, wouldn't be rewarded by their bosses, and other employees might face negative consequences for OP's initiatives. There ARE definitely cases and culture where optimization isn't a desirable trait.