In the late 1980’s, the Federal Government was using pre-printed multi-copy forms, standalone typewriters, dot matrix printers, and Enable Integrated Software, out of production so long that the internet now retrieves only one record for it, and that a dead end. I was a secretary, and there was nothing more annoying to me than typing the exact same information repeatedly because one person would sign up for several classes, or several people would need the same travel arrangements to take the same class together. A typo involved 5 colors of correction fluid and realigning the paper in the typewriter for another run.
A little confidence and an encouraging supervisor went a long way as I built the structure for a database supported forms system. I added to it, form by form, tweaked the front end for ease of use, and finally assembled a user’s manual. This was worth sharing with other secretaries, shaving every form-filling task down by at least 75%. I submitted the project through official channels and provided a demonstration for several secretaries to give it a trial run. I used and modified the system for a few years, until I transferred from my position as a secretary to a place on the computer team.
At the time, the movers and shakers were already in the process of evaluating a commercial forms package. For reasons that do not surprise anyone exposed to bureaucracy, they spent millions buying and installing a system that was actually inferior to what I had developed. My system could produce all necessary forms within minutes of a request, using no more than a dozen keystrokes to retrieve all data and a short dynamic paragraph justifying the request, then print on the pre-printed forms, all elements in their proper alignment. The new system required the secretaries to stop their work, reboot their computers to a different configuration, enter all data, assemble alternating white and carbon sheets, print, then reboot their computers back to normal configuration to return to the task at hand.
Entrepreneurship lesson #1:
Often, it’s not in the quality of the choices,
but in the choice of the handshake.
We had a request to build a system to manage the logistics of the training office, and I rolled up my sleeves to build another system, trying to make life easier on the workers. I was scheduled for a long vacation with some family members, and took a department laptop with me to work on the system. Focused on the project, I surrendered the opportunity to have extended time with an aunt very dear to me, my last opportunity. When I returned home, the system was strong but not quite complete, and the request had been withdrawn – it was never used.
Entrepreneurship lesson #2:
Projects and systems will be replaced,
but nothing can replace time with family.
A few years and systems later, I poured myself into the design of an employee skills database. Negotiations were fierce as we tried to define a rational system that would meet fuzzy requirements. The project sank under it’s own weight and I moved to a newly established department. We were to oversee and validate that documented procedures were followed on all software projects, so I built another database system to track caseload and compliance. As often happens, other forces were at play, and the whole project could be chalked up to experience and refining of design plans for similar data elements. In 1998, the meetings and events of one day pointed out the futility of my long nights and stress-laden days. One phone call and the opportunity to be officially titled (and paid) as a database developer was all it took for me to walk away. I later learned that this system, so carefully constructed to meet dynamic demands, quickly fell to disuse under the shifting priorities of the organization.
Entrepreneurship lesson #3:
Nobody cares as much about your project as you do,
nor will they invest as much.
By the time 2001 rolled around, I had built, upgraded and left a few more systems using different database software programs. I always made my job easier and more efficient, and I tended to be the only one to directly benefit. It was a time of learning, both technically and politically, but I wasn’t learning the important lessons well enough. I was on a team under a firm-fixed-price contract to satisfy the customer’s ever shifting and stretching requirements by the contracted deadline. Two of us spent 2-3 months working 80-100 hours weekly while our teammates went home to their families. Our project manager and I discussed the toll this was taking on my sign language training, and he convinced me to put classes on hold for just six months to get the project done. I was two classes shy of graduating and he insisted on a six month pause… It took 10 years before I returned to school, and during that time, critical health issues began to show themselves. They were, at a minimum, made worse by the long hours. When we delivered the project, the firm we were employed under was no longer in business – this faulty contract had bankrupted them.
Entrepreneurship lesson #4:
Don’t let someone’s doomed project
prevent you from pursuing your own life goals.
After a brief rest, I answered the phone one morning, dressed quickly for an unexpected interview, and had a job by lunch time. My first task was to revamp an undocumented system to receive bulk data in a revised format. By the time I left the company 10 years later, the company president had given me the nickname “SQL Goddess”. It was a vivid adventure, and all that I had learned before was applied to the corporate system we developed. I had come full circle with another supportive boss and a whopper of a system that made life easier on the workers. Finally, one of my systems was in use.
My personal calendar and some corporate dynamics converged in 2008, I announced plans to return to school, and we hired my replacement. We negotiated a long-distance support arrangement until the new database administrator was solidly on his feet. There are aspects that I would like to have upgraded, and there are surely aspects that my replacement has decided to revise in the three years since I left, not to mention growth and modifications to support corporate decisions. Such is the life in technology. Strangely, this system represented my biggest victory, and yet it was the easiest to walk away from. My tendency to be possessive and protective of that which I’ve invested so much of my energy in was, at least in this case, finally overcome.
Entrepreneurship lesson #5:
When you’ve reached the pinnacle of success,
it’s a good time to move on.