Encounters With Complexity

Every profession has at its core an encounter with a central reality. For the sports professional, it’s the encounter with the ball (or maybe the opposing player trying to take that ball away); for the stock trader, it’s the encounter with financial uncertainty; for the airline pilot it’s the encounter with gravity. I think for the IT professional, it’s the encounter with complexity.

Our profession uses highly complex stuff to do what we do. Our reason for existing is to deal with that complexity and shield others from having to do so. Whether it’s moving a data center, installing a new application package or developing a custom designed system, we experience a dizzying rush of details as we contemplate all the things that need to get done and all the things that could go wrong.

Because of that rush of details, that overwhelming flood of complexity, I feel fear every single time I start a project. I even believe that if I’m not afraid, it’s a sign I must be missing something (or worse - that I don’t care).

So it comes down to figuring out how to deal with my fear and manage the encounter with complexity that comes along with every new project. IT projects happen when people need to respond to business challenges (there are only challenges, never problems), and challenges come in two flavors – good and bad.

In the first flavor, people come to you with smiles on their faces and tell you about a great opportunity if only you can do something for them. In the second flavor, people come to you with worried looks on their faces and say they need something done in a hurry or terrible things will happen. I’ve noticed both flavors taste much alike.

In both cases, the talk zooms back and forth from high level big picture stuff to low level minute details. The air is charged with emotion, with people taking either an overly optimistic or an overly pessimistic view of the situation. Either way, I usually wind up hearing more minute details than I can handle and getting only a vague big-picture view of how all these details fit together.

Then the conversation stops. And people always have just two questions on their minds. They turn to me with searching expressions on their faces and ask: “So what’s it going to cost?” and “When can you get it done?”

They are simple questions, but answering them involves all the complexity inherent in the people, process, and technology that would be or could be used to deal with these challenges. This is the point when I really feel afraid. Ernest Hemingway said people carry fear in their knees. He may have been right, for I often feel a tingling sensation there along with butterflies in my stomach. This must be my body preparing for fight or flight.

At this moment, I try to remember three things. First, take a deep breath. Second, take another deep breath. Third, very few problems are really as hard as they at first seem. If I make it to the second deep breath, I know I’m off to a good start. Then I collect myself and say, “That’s a very interesting challenge you have, and I want to help.”

This reassures people and gives me a chance to constructively influence the situation instead of just being a stick in the mud or an obstructionist. Then I continue with, “Let’s start this project by defining the challenge and what we need to do to meet it. Next, we’ll design a system to do that, and then

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