It could always be worse
Because most of us don't have the benefit (like I do) of seeing how other associations are managing their data, we tend to think our situation is much worse than it really is. So I like to collect stories of organizations that really ARE in bad shape. Here's the latest example:
A Wall Street Journal article entitled "What Can’t the Internet Handle in 2022? Apostrophes" discusses how certain data management systems are unable to manage certain characters (e.g., umlauts in names).
One of the examples is Aer Lingus. From the article: "Aer Lingus’s booking system, called Astral, is nearly 60 years old and doesn’t cater to special characters." SIXTY YEARS OLD!
And what special character can't it handle? Apostrophes. This in a country where many surnames have apostrophes!
So when you really start feeling down about how bad your systems are, remember, it could always be worse! Your system could be 60 years old and not accept apostrophes!
Wes's Wednesday Wisdom Archives
Dashboards for Data Integrity
Dashboards for Data Integrity I’ve written a bunch on data integrity reports. (Click here for […]
Next-to-Nothing Goals
Next-to-Nothing Goals I saw a Ted Talk by Christine Carter recently discussing the concept of […]
Just because you can…
Just because you can… In response to a recent Wednesday Wisdom on averages hiding the […]
Always ask “Why?”
Always ask “Why?” Little kids ask “Why?” all the time, because they are sponges for […]
Averages hide the extremes
Averages hide the extremes I can’t remember where I first heard it, but “averages hide […]
Look up PARTIAL names!
Look up PARTIAL names! Train your staff to do look ups on partial names, not full […]
Not Just Technology
Not Just Technology There was recently a discussion on the ASAE online community about project management […]
Consider quitting
Consider quitting Patient: “Doctor, it hurts when I do this.” Doctor: “Then stop doing that.” […]
There is nothing so permanent as business rules
There is nothing so permanent as business rules Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman said, “There’s nothing […]
Budget for feature discovery and adoption
Budget for feature discovery and adoption When developing a budget for implementation of a new […]