A former employer of mine has decided to do something so spectacularly short-sighted, I couldn’t resist sharing for a laugh.
Here’s the story: The company had an in-house software system that managed almost every aspect of the business. From invoicing, stock tracking, and report generation to semi-automated billing, it was the backbone of operations, with thousands of interconnected functions.
To maintain this system, the company had three IT teams:
- Hardware IT: Handled basic tech issues.
- Mid-Level IT: Fixed smaller, specific software issues.
- Legacy Team: The true specialists, maintaining the core software that had kept things running smoothly for over 20 years.
In a cost-cutting frenzy, senior management decided the Legacy Team was redundant. After all, they reasoned, a new software system was “just around the corner” (within a year or so). They also wanted the Legacy Team’s office space cleared out.
This included the destruction of:
- Filing cabinets full of manuals, “how-to” guides, and troubleshooting documentation.
- Hundreds of digital files critical to the system’s operation.
Despite the Legacy Team warning against this move, management doubled down, issuing a firm directive: “Destroy all paperwork” and “Delete all digital files.” The team complied, shredding documents, wiping files, and resetting computers to factory settings. With their work done, they moved on to new jobs.
Fast-forward three months. A power outage caused a system failure, and the company can no longer:
- Add new stock to the system.
- Generate invoices (because the system thinks no stock exists).
- Process billing automatically.
The result? The entire operation has reverted to manual processes—pen, paper, Excel sheets, and overtime galore. Chaos reigns as employees scramble to keep up.
Desperate, the company contacted the former Legacy Team for help. The response? Without the manuals and files they were ordered to destroy, fixing the system is virtually impossible.
And that “new” software? Still at least a year away.
On the bright side, two senior managers now have a spacious office to share. What a win!
