The inside and the outside

I recently inherited a website and a large legacy application. Both are in-house initiatives. Custom built solely for the purposes of our manufacturing process. Previously, in my role as Manager of Information Systems, I recognized the merit and value of these entities. Their essential merit being the recording and archiving of business information. Ease of entry and subsequent reporting being paramount in their daily use. As Information Management systems they fit the hand.

When a tool fits the hand pick it up.

This has been a long standing mantra of mine when counseling customers/users regarding their computer needs and requirements. There certainly is little sense in trying to use an uncomfortable or ill-suited tool to do a job. To extend the metaphor, this a simple retelling of the old saw, 'trying to fit a square peg in a round hole.'

So all of that is the outside - I inherited the inside.

"Ease of entry and subsequent reporting..." are the result of great planning, deliberation and of course elegant execution. My predecessor did an admirable job at every turn. Alas, my predecessor embodied the living knowledge of both of these initiatives. What then falls to me is the labor of learning the insides.

Where my predecessor enjoyed the luxury of an intimate growing and evolving relationship with each project I receive each as a stone cold tool. The website and the application were crafted to fit the hand of the customer/user. The inside of each, however, as a tool fit his hand. So I now find myself having to pick up a tool that feels very foreign to my hand. A feeling that is diametrically opposed to my mantra.