Monday, May 16, 2011

Unduly Complicated

An attorney revised a program for a college. The old program had been rather straightforward and, although it had some flaws - as most programs do - it operated well and was popular with the faculty and the students.

The lawyer's changes were substantive and wise but for the execution. The main problem stemmed from the complexity. Procedures that once could be mastered within a few minutes now required serious review and multiple reminders. Upper management liked it and the lawyer liked it; indeed, it seemed that input had been obtained from everyone but the people who would have to use the program.


Aside from the issue of implementation, the new program was very slick; a thing of beauty.

2 comments:

Bob said...

old=bad
simple=bad
unsexy=bad

complex=good
new=good
sexy=fantastic


*All you need to do is get rid of the people who knew about the old system, and then nobody will be none the wiser.

Oh nearly forgot -> There will only be ONE person/company that can fix the new system......

Michael Wade said...

Bob,

I believe that's the formula.

Michael