The truth of the matter is that these challenges are solvable. There is a technical reason why the systems function the way they do. The biggest challenge is to get a process in place to tackle the issues, one by one, until at some point, you stop getting the late-night calls, and the systems start to become more stable. The second step is to change your process so that it includes the best practices in your development life cycle, which will help avoid these problems in the future. The more stability you bring into the environment, the more time you will have to focus on solving the IT challenges that will give the company the biggest return on investment. Changing how your systems work isn’t a straightforward process; it may vary from company to company.
If you can not think of a solution the solution will find you. It may be a mandate from above, or it could be just time for a change. I suspect that if you were to talk to your employees and coworkers, many would agree that it is time for a change—they just don’t know what that change is. Think back to some of the challenges you faced most recently. Is there a pattern to these challenges? Do people complain about the same issues over and over again? To solve the problems faced in the company, each team member may choose a different way to fix the issue—one may leave the department, get promoted, quit the company, or open that coffee shop in North Carolina he has always wanted. There is always a downside to letting things continue down the wrong path, and the biggest downside is that if you don’t find a way to change, someone else will find it. The path that person chooses may not be in the companies best interest. Some people may want to get as far away from a problem as possible, but the rest need to learn how to adapt to change. They need to focus on how to solve the problems, rather than how to escape them. I think there is a far greater sense of accomplishment when we tackle problems head on. Keep a positive attitude, these problems have solutions, and over time, you can shift from survival mode to growth mode—growth that can continue indefinitely as your company’s goals and aspirations grow.
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