The never-ending battle between the two warring nations – Bugs and Users

Our story begins in a newly built city in the Infobip realm called Messagora. Messagora is a constantly expanding city, always introducing new services for the enjoyment of its residents (referred to as features in the Infobip realm).

The residents of this city are called Users. While they are happy to live in Messagora, they live in fear of a barbaric and brutal nation known as the Bugs. This menacing nation has the potential to destroy the entire city and render all its services unusable.

To protect Messagora, the Realm has employed a dedicated team to develop, defend, and maintain the city. These individuals manage everything, from small user requests and pain points to large-scale city changes and ambitious expansion plans.

However, the army of Bugs has excellent intelligence on the employees’ activities and is carefully crafting plans, finding innovative ways to infiltrate the city. Much like cockroaches that can survive nuclear bombs, Bugs can endure even the most rigorous efforts of city officials.

When innovation meets infiltration

A group of employees is working on a big project: expanding the city to introduce a new service that many residents have requested.

As the employees work hard on the new service expansion, they face not only the usual challenges of designing and implementing the service but also the ever-present threat of the nation of Bugs.

The new service is called RiftStream. The residents are very excited and can’t wait to try it out.

The Bugs have been monitoring this expansion with particular interest, constantly looking for ways to infiltrate the new service. Every time an employee makes a mistake, they inject themselves into the system.

The Bugs have a leader named Crashamegadon, who has been planning an attack on this new service since its inception.

He even managed to sneak into the planning meetings, subtly offering suggestions that included back doors for his army to infiltrate the product. Some of his suggestions were implemented in the theoretical solution – exactly as he had hoped.

Bugs beneath the surface

The new service is being built on the north side of the town, where bugs in the ground could activate a landslide, bringing the whole building down in an instant.

Only one employee is aware of this potential issue, but he is surprised no one is discussing it, so he decides not to bring it up.

Of course, the decision to build on the north side was Crashmagedon’s. The employees are clearing the land to prepare for the new service’s construction. After pouring the foundation, they begin building the mainframes.

“It’s quite strange that the bug army hasn’t attacked this project yet,” one employee remarks.

“Ah, it’s probably fine,” the other responds.

As they install the window and door frames, they notice something unusual about them: the window frames are unusable.

It turns out that they ordered the windows from a service in another town called Pulsewick in the Infobip realm. Unfortunately, that service had long been infiltrated by bugs and is now practically unusable.

Fortunately, the team noticed the issue before installing the frames, as discovering it later would have been far more costly to fix.

But it wasn’t just luck that led to this discovery; it was the cautiousness and expertise of the employees working on the project. The issue is quickly resolved with the town of Pulsewick, whose employees are grateful for the report, as it helps them squash the bugs.

How ignoring early warnings almost crashed RiftStream

The service is nearly complete, but something terrible has happened: the nearby service, FormulateX, has been destroyed by a landslide.

Luckily, no one was hurt, but users are furious – how could this happen?

After some investigation, it was discovered that bugs had been in the ground all along.

Panic spreads among the employees, as they now face an almost finished service built on completely unstable and buggy ground. Will they have to rebuild the entire service because of this? No one knows.

A large meeting is called to discuss the situation. Many suggestions are thrown around. “We should just start over!” someone shouts. “We don’t have time!” others respond.

The discussion continues late into the night, and they finally agree on a solution. The plan is to dig up the soil around the building and replace it. This solution is neither easy nor cheap, but since the issue wasn’t raised earlier, there is no simple fix.

Even though the bugs were dealt with, Crashmagedon is still pleased, as the problem wasn’t discovered when it should have been, costing the city a lot of resources to resolve. Afterward, employees made sure to speak up about potential issues, and the rest of the development phase went smoothly.

In the end, the residents were happy with the service, finding it quite useful.

Be proactive, communicate openly, and act quickly

The story of Messagora and the RiftStream project teaches several lessons.

At the original planning meeting, one employee knew about an issue but chose not to speak up, assuming that more experienced, skilled, and knowledgeable colleagues had already noticed it. This serves as a reminder of the importance of speaking up and raising concerns early on.

It also highlights the need for an open culture where every team member, regardless of experience, feels empowered to voice concerns.

Another key takeaway is the inevitability of bugs – whether literal or metaphorical. Bugs, like the ones that infiltrated the RiftStream project, will always find a way in, no matter how much we try to prevent them. The crucial factor ishow we deal with them and when we deal with them.

The employees’ dedication and vigilance, particularly when they noticed the faulty window frames, also underscore the importance of cautiousness and expertise.

In the end, the lesson is clear: proactive planning, open communication, and swift action are the keys to preventing small issues from escalating into larger problems that drain time and resources. By addressing potential risks early, teams can navigate even the most challenging projects with success, ensuring that the final product not only meets expectations but stands strong against any threats.