The team had a problem that had become normal.
Because of the situation in Myanmar, internet access could be cut off during the day. The team needed to wake up very early, run queries, prepare reports, and get everything done before they lost connectivity.
I spent time understanding how the team actually prepared the reports — what they ran, what data was available, and what tools we already had.
At the time, Google Apps Script was one of the practical tools available to us, so I built a small automation around the existing process.
The reports could be prepared automatically and be ready when the team woke up.
No new platform. No complicated architecture. Just a small piece of automation solving a very real problem.
Years later, I was surprised to hear that the solution was still there and still working.
Sometimes good engineering is simply paying enough attention to notice what shouldn't be happening in the first place.
- Notice. Understand how people actually work before trying to automate it.
- Simplify. Work with the tools and constraints that actually exist.
- Automate. Remove repetitive work instead of asking people to work harder.