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Root Cause #015: Still in Pilot

Root Cause / Episode 015 / Software pilots

The Manager proposes a two-week trial of a new ticket system. The test passes, but the decision meeting is nowhere on the calendar.

Four-panel Root Cause comic. A two-week ticket-system pilot runs for three years. The team throws a birthday party for the laptop running it.
Root Cause #015 · Another perfectly normal day in IT.
Panel 1. The Manager proposes a two-week trial. Brian agrees to decide whether to switch afterward.

Panel 01 / 04

Panel 2. Patch shows the successful test and an empty calendar.

Panel 02 / 04

Panel 3. Brian finds the original calendar under a dusty stack of folders.

Panel 03 / 04

Panel 4. The team holds a birthday party for the pilot, with a cake and a number-three candle.

Panel 04 / 04

Read the transcript

Panel 1. The Manager points to a laptop showing a ticket icon. The Manager: “Let’s try the new ticket system for two weeks.” Brian: “Then we decide whether to switch.”

Panel 2. Patch stands beside the laptop and a blank calendar. The laptop screen shows two check marks. Patch: “The test passed. Where’s the decision meeting?”

Panel 3. Brian lifts a dusty calendar from a stack of old folders. Brian: “I found the original end date.” Brian: “It was three years ago.”

Panel 4. The Manager sets a cake with a number-three candle in front of the laptop, which wears a party hat. Brian looks at it over his mug. The Manager: “Make a wish.” Brian: “I wish we’d picked a system.”

Meet the regulars

Brian

Solves infrastructure. Still waiting on requirements.

The Manager

Sees the possibility. Occasionally, the scope.

Patch

Helpful. Literal. Technically followed instructions.

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