When I read a post on concerns about the impact of Boomer retirement on legacy code I was reminded of something an Old Crow said nearly 30 years ago about the US C3 (command, control and communications) system. He explained how fragile it was because the original technology had been, and continued to be, overlaid with newer technology. That meant that if something broke in an older layer it was likely that current personnel wouldn’t know how to fix it.

This got me to thinking, what about us humans: Do we have a legacy system in our heads? As we grow and change are we merely overlaying our previous MAP, or (to borrow from techdom) truly reformatting our hard drive for a new installation? Does it matter?

Yes, I think it matters. I also think it depends on the person. I know a few people who really do reformat (my sister is one of them) and completely wipe all residue of that part of their MAP they are changing. They do this so completely that if you remind them of how they used to be their response is that you’re nuts. However, they are the minority; most people overlay the old with the new.

Both approaches can cause problems. With the “clean install” it’s difficult to know what’s coming next, since there is no announcement of the change and the previous version never existed. With an overlay there’s the danger that the legacy MAP will kick in when least expected.

Which are you?

• Clean install people find out externally when a comment is met with a completely blank look from their listeners.
• Overlay people find out internally when they say something and almost immediately think, where did that come from?

Whichever you are you can cope best by increasing your awareness.

This entry was posted on Monday, August 7th, 2006 at 11:03 am and is filed under Business info, Communication, Culture. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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