The Maintenance Factor

Summer in Washington DC is an exciting time. From the time that the cherry blossoms open in late March/April to the time that fog shrouds views of the Potomac in August/September, there are plenty of things to do, places to visit, parties to attend and people to meet. We have been especially fortunate to be living in a city that is both a tourist destination and a great place to live. Without the cramped apartments of New York City or the long distances of the Chicago or Detroit suburbs, we are also only a short Metro ride away from the city center.

To our great pleasure and enjoyment friends and relatives continue to visit us from different cities of the US and different countries of the world. And with the accommodations we have and the resources at our disposal, this is not generally a big burden. But with the pleasure and enjoyment also comes the effort of playing host, providing for food and lodging and ensuring safety and convenience and providing directions and itineraries for the guests.

We have been raising the children for over fifteen years. They are good kids with a firm knowledge of right and wrong, for the most part diligent, and always sincere. We are delighted to have them and would never think of exchanging them. Ever. However, we find ourselves cleaning up after them, and picking up the loose ends. They mean well, but raising kids is a constant burden on parents, always more than mitigated by the joy of loving them and having them around the house.

So what does this have to do with enterprise architecture? My observation is that individuals fall into two categories: High Maintenance and Low Maintenance. Family members and friends who are low maintenance are easy to host and nurture. Family members and friends who are high maintenance become irritants if the stay is long enough. There is a higher risk that the ointment of love will run out with High Maintenance people leaving the prickly itch of irritation.

So what makes a person High Maintenance? To answer the question rather obtusely, we need to define the “Span” of a task. I define the span of a task as a sum total of all preceding steps, task specific steps and closeout steps.

The concept of a span is more than just concentration on detail detail in describing the steps (although diligent performers tend to detail out each step more than sloppy ones do). High Maintenance people tend to concentrate mostly on the actual task specific steps and ignore both the preparation steps that precede the actual and the closeout steps that succeed the task.

It is not sufficient to take a shower, it is also required that the clothes be put away either for laundry or stored in a guest room, and wipe the shower stall, and take the hair off the soap and .. and ..

It is not sufficient to eat a meal, but it is also required to put away/rinse the plate, the water/drink glass, the cutlery, wipe off the spot at the table, collect debris from food serving accidents and ...

It is not sufficient to wash the car, but it is also required to put away the cleaners, polishes, cloths and spray wands. And vaccum the interior, and clean the glass surfaces, damp wipe the interior, dress the tires and ..

It is not sufficient to just mow the lawn, but it is also required to clean out the debris around the mower, clean out any mud on the wheels to prevent tracking and stow the mower away - Not forgetting preparatory steps such as filling in the gas, checking the oil level, and cleaning out the blade.

High maintenance people tend to omit preparatory tasks, leave dangling closeout tasks and simplify the main task, stripping it of any distinctive excellence. High Maintenance people tend to avoid the tedious organization, prior planning and preparation that ease the preparatory steps to performing the actual task itself. The highest maintenance people are those who are oblivious to even the need for preparatory tasks and closeout tasks and define the main task in terms of its skeleton element.

Have you met the software programmer who does not want to document his/her code? Or the application programmer who insists on designing a haphazard quick and dirty database structure without the organizational and structural skills of a Database Administrator? Or the sales specialist who has collected his/her commission and tosses the problem customer over to the Help Desk? Or the application developer who does not want to communicate to the technical writers trying to write user documentation for the application?

If the answer is yes, you have just met some high maintenance people! High maintenance employees can kill morale and camaraderie as they need an army of helpers to clean up after them. They tend to be insensitive to the burdens they are placing on the population around them. High maintenance people are responsible for sloppy delivery of results, products and services in an enterprise.

A majority army of Low Maintenance people is the hallmark of a durable and innovative enterprise that works! Even when the boss is gone.