Netflix is perhaps one of the best uses ever of the Internet. There you can find thousands of films, many of which you have never heard, if you're like me and an occasional movie watcher. Somehow while browsing around I found a documentary by Ben Stein, a man who has a large following on cable, to which our household does not subscribe, called Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed. You can find out more here at the 'official' website. Frankly, I thought the movie would be a light comedy and was completely wrong. It is really a quest by Mr Stein to understand the current state of thought in Microbiology and other evolutionary sciences. At times amusing, at times poignant, the film is ever illuminating. The Lever of Action is a theory of life's origins called Intelligent Design. As for the state of evolutionary sciences, one commentator says in the film, "Microbiology is in a state of crisis." Why? Well it seems that, as we have over the past 40 years or so come to understand the cell and how it operates, we have less and less an understanding on how the cell might have evolved. The central problem is "What comes first, the cell or the information to build the cell?" Can information evolve to create the processes that operate the cell's inner and outer workings, including its own generation? How can information evolve without a structure in place, or how can the structure evolve without the information necessary to run it? As you can see these are terribly difficult and complex questions. Throw in statistical methodology about the chances that a cell was created by happenstance, like lightning, and you have to say that the so called 'crisis' is clear. Now I do understand that Intelligent Design has been depicted in the general media as simply religion, led by zealots at the local school board, trying to poke its nose back under the Relevancy tent. But after watching this movie I came away with a new respect for some of the very serious thinkers who have had the courage to broach a subject this controversial. So why does this subject belong here on a blog about Technology for the small to medium enterprise, SME? (Well, our problems are not nearly as serious as those dealt with by evolutionary scientist, but sometimes outside stimuli cause us to reassess our assumptions.) Thinking about the documentary afterwards, I started to realize that as system integrators and implementers we deal with many of the same issues and problems. When a business has operated for several years it is a useful question to ask what came first the business or the system, the structure or the processes? So often managers assume that the business drove the system. This is at least half true in most cases. But it is also true that the system drives the business in ways that are often difficult to discern but no less significant in consequences. These chicken or egg questions always come up in system implementation work when you are replacing or just introducing a new business nervous system like an ERP/CRM suite. Every business is unique in some very material ways that involve how they process information. Really understanding these processes is absolutely vital to putting in a system that will be a win-win for you and the client. But understanding takes time, empathy, skillful questioning and excellent business understanding. Put yourself into the shoes of the client's customer, the customer service rep, the saleperson, management and don't forget that the accounting must all work at the end of the day. So don't take any shortcuts in your system implementation. Be willing to hear the voices of those in the client's organization who are really sceptical of the new system (sales people, normally) and understand why they hesitate: Are they speaking for only their own selfish needs or those of the customer (paramount!)? Don't avoid difficult challenges because in the end these process anomalies are what define the client's market differentiation. Be willing also to ask difficult questions, even if they till ground that nobody wants to cover for fear of controversy. In the end, the job of a system's integrator or implementor is itself a difficult balancing act. You must hear the client clearly without becoming an advocate and you must also respect the system and its processes without becoming a blind proponent. The only way to do this well is to have a good sense of humor, because you will be the object of some invective from either your boss or your client, and the best way to deflect it is to smile, ear to ear and often. Like Ben Stein! | 
