Here is an amazing example, from today, of why work sends me off the edge of a cliff sometimes.

5 weeks ago – A business process was identified by our accountants where they knew the system could not support it automagically. They knew, to0 get the accounting right, they would need to get the business team to agree to how to enter the transaction so that it would work right. We left the meeting with the accountants agreeing that this was their action item.

1 week ago – The rumor mill is going fast and furious. We are going to have to do coding changes for this process. We are going to have to create a whole bunch of new variables and parameters to support this. Oh yeah, and we go live in a week. Time to panic. I explained to everyone that this is a business process issue – not a system one. Do nothing but remind the accountants they need to work with the business. But IT needs to stand down.

3 days ago – OMG!! IT MUST DO SOMETHING!! <– the battle cry. People are running around & I’m continually reminding people that until the business decides the process there is NOTHING TO DO.

2 days ago – An emergency meeting is called. A higher up in the business has been brought into the mess. And after repeated emails, he is fed up with it. Why? Because he just needs someone to make a fucking decision. I don’t disagree. I sit in the meeting – make sure they are talking – keep reminding both the accountants and the business they needed to make a decision and communicate it. That until they do IT HAS NOTHING TO DO SO KEEP US OUT OF IT!

1 day ago – A decision was made. Amen! And it doesn’t require us to do anything but set up a new rule – no coding. Double win. Now…..to get someone to document the change request so we can do the work. Or, as I like to call it "Welcome to a giant game of ‘Not It’". Yes, IT could enter it for them – technically we have the ability but NO we will not request ourselves to make a change that is not ours. No, I’m not being nitpicky on the process – it’s called ownership and responsibility. So, accounting who is actually defining the change we are implementation – they won’t do it because they don’t do tickets. The business has no idea what the actually change is. All they did was explain their business and let the accountants figure out how to calculate it all right. Yet because they spoke, it is now up to them to get the request made.

Today – after a big pissing contest about who should create the request, frustration set in. So, we engaged the PM for the country to see if she would do it. Her response: ask three other people to do it for her.

At this point, no idea what or who will be making the request. Without the request (documentation) we cannot make the change. So until then, hope they don’t need this change.

At this rate – we’ll be putting this fix in while we deploy our August countries meaning this will have been open for 9 weeks.

Then again, I’m putting things ahead of themselves….we first have to get the request made. Who fucking knows when that’s happening.

And people wonder why shit doesn’t get done?

Now where is my flask…..hmmm….