The Infernal Diurnal Journal

 It is just as well that the year did not even really start so far, particularly at work. I was wondering what was going on because clearly something was up. Many members of the executive team were missing and there had been no formal meetings for two months into the new year. Well, now it is becoming clear. There seems to have been an investigation on some of the senior executives in the company and the outcome of this is now playing out. It is also opportune, as all of this had to be dealt with prior to the onset of Ramadan- which happens to be today. There were some cryptic emails sent yesterday by the boss regarding a couple of executives going on leave and a naming of the substitutes. Why they are going on leave is not clear. What is clear is that their IT credentials do not exist as of yesterday. We can make of that what we will for now. For my own part, I still don't know what will be the end game here and whether I will be impacted as well. But for the moment, I have receiv...

  I don't know what it is about February, but I end up not writing much. It seems as if there are things that weigh on me during this period, right after the new year has started with some gusto. Last year, I was ill for most of this month. This year, I have felt a flu coming on a number of times, but did not really get palpably sick. So one would I expect that I wrote regularly this month. I didn't. One of the reasons is that I cannot get the Electric Utilities installed in my new premises. DEWA- the utilities monopoly in the UAE is usually a remarkably efficient outfit. However, if you make a small mistake in how you apply for a new connection, I am learning that there is pain. Much pain. And this is true for almost all things in the UAE. Resilience, Plan Bs and alternatives- are a weakness. Consider what happens when you miss an exit on any highway. You can be delayed by up to an hour- which seems ridiculous, but it is patently true. Highways are not designed for you to make...

There is information misalignment and assymetry everywhere. I hear from every SaaS provider that they are going to create "one source of truth". Really. Even with all our data eventually being housed in SAP, we have the balance sheet reflecting something about inventory which is different from what is on the ground. The issue is not usually an IT system. Sure it helps to put something from paper into a computer but this hardly solves the information alignment issue. Many memes in Supply Chain make this point eloquently, so I am not saying anything new. But it is an important point to make far more elaborately than throwing a few soundbites. Let us first try and understand if everyone in an eco-system actually wants or desires to have one source of truth. An organisation is a power-oriented hierarchy and information is power. There is information that is not for everyone's knowledge. There is also information that can be claimed to be proprietary and that is somehow "...