Well, I did. It's because, honestly, we just don't know any better sometimes, and guess what? That's perfectly fine!
When we're uncertain about our knowledge, it can make us uneasy. This, in turn, clouds our decision-making process, overloading our thought process and we end up creating these unnecessarily jumbled, verbose solutions. Sounds familiar, right? Fear Driven Design.
I recently found myself in one of these classic "oh boy, I should've known better" scenarios when I had to roll out a new process. Despite having sufficient experience with process design, I found myself falling prey to the rookie syndrom and the sunk cost bias. Even though I was aware of these pitfalls, it was hard to catch myself beforehand.
In my quest to make people's lives easier, I always strive to design an already optimized process, investing heavily in automation. During the process design phase, I tend to make numerous assumptions about its usage. This instance was no different. But...
Tech Troubles, Usage Surprises, and the Sunk Cost Bias
My first hiccup? Navigating a whole new technology landscape. Let me tell you, I felt like a tech newbie—my solution turned out to be a rather verbose solution, resembling the work of a junior developer rather than an experienced one. However, as I became more familiar with the technology, I also learned how to improve my solution.
The second curveball? How people actually used the process. Spoiler alert: it was nothing like I assumed. So, I had to get creative and introduce numerous workarounds to handle new use cases and even edge cases. The solution turned into a complex web, to the point where I was in the position to need to ask people to perform manual work to prevent process failures.
And then, the grand finale: the sunk cost bias. I'd poured so much time and effort into my original solution that I was hesitant to make big changes. But deep down, I knew I had to.
Have the Courage To Change
In moments like these, I remembered my two mantras:
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A process should enhance our lives, making them easier, better, and safer. It should create the space we need to think, be creative, and thrive.
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If the solution to a problem is complicated, then it's not the right solution.
So, I paused and evaluated the direction of the process. It was clear it wasn't heading in the right direction. Then, it struck me: there was a simpler solution to the challenges I was facing. I had even considered this solution before but had dismissed it. This was all nice and good, but I now confronted another question: Why didn't I see this earlier? Why did I have to build this complicated process to arrive at this simple solution?
The answer is simple (no pun intended): because I didn't know any better at the time. It's not an excuse but a fact. We often rush into implementing things and take wrong turns here and there. However, it's not due to ill intent but a lack of knowledge and wisdom. We should be kinder to ourselves and others when faced with complicated situations. Most of the time, things are the way they are due to a lack of knowledge and fear.
What's not alright is to leave things as they are when you know there are better solutions. We must strive to change when change is possible.
