The company file server:
Perfect simplicity, or just contained anarchy?

Shocking his fellow members, the president of the World Federation of Anarchists once said that file server information architecture is not a mind-blowingly fascinating subject. It did not keep him up at night endlessly traversing directory hierarchies, admiring their architectural beauty and attempting to improve on their apparent perfect simplicity.

For some reason, despite the inhibiting and even destructive consequences of file server anarchy, most people consider it a nuisance problem not worth spending much time on.

But wait, thar's gold in them thar hills! See the "Time is money"-article.

However, forget profit potential for now, it is not the point here. The point is why does this problem exist in this day and age? Here are some of the most fascinating reasons:

• As mentioned above, file server directory structures is a rather droll subject that most people consider a nuisance not worth spending much time on. Therefore they don't, and the problem is born.
• Creating good file server directory structure is a question of information architecture, and this is a subject as difficult as it sounds.
• Few people are skilled in information architecture, and they're generally either too expensive for common consumption or too theoretical to be taken out in the daytime
• Everybody, other people, and actually everyone has an opinion on how the file server should be structured, and particularly how their own directories and files must be structured. Therefore, "and this is how we organize the file server" is more likely an epitaph than a good career move.
• "Contained anarchy", in the form of messy file server directory structures is a much more pervasive problem than people are inclined to believe. Nearly everyone thinks the neighbours are much more organized than they are. Only the shrinks know otherwise, and they're not telling. There's patient confidentiality, and it's great for business. Of course, when people have a problem they don't think other people have, people tend to hide the problem or pretend it ain't there, i.e. denial. This allows the problem to keep growing until at some point it becomes too expensive to handle, and is left alone while the company moves on to a different solution which is almost as expensive, and new and shiny.

There are actually even more reasons, but the above work fine alone. In conclusion, remember that the "contained anarchy" is growing stronger day by day. Be very, very afraid!

Or you could acknowledge the problem - say "I have a filing problem" and simply solve it by getting AINTscience.