Masters of Obsolete Technology

1985:

You are a software engineer in a most prestigious company in India. You are the best in the field. You are a team of 4 and you guys together have a dream of On site. You guys are working in a E-commerce product. You have created the product's design for your team. You guys wanted to install it in production in US by your own hands being On site. But your Team Lead is a crooked guy who always pushes you guys down. He doesn't let your dreams to come alive and sends someone else for the job. You argue with him and your egos clashes with his in a bad way and you end up resigning with your entire team from the organisation.

2010:

25 years later the product which you had developed needs a critical enhancement. All the current engineers are not well versed in the obsolete technology of 1985 and they suggest to redo the entire product. But the client didn't agree since for them it is not just a e-commerce product. It is the e-commerce product used for running critical business. The manager is now left with no other option and looks for you.

The Manager is none other the lead of you in 1985 with whom your egos clashed. His team come to you for help which you alone could offer. You send them back refusing help and give them a career advice to stay away from that crooked manager. They critise you for not being a team Player.

You sit in your home and think of you and your teams old dreams. You 4 guys were a great team and the best in the industry but were always denied a chance of on site. The entire team had suffered for the personal clash you had with the lead then. Now its your pay back time. You take the product design which is untouched for years from your racks and analyse it.

You go the company the next day to the old ego Lead (current Manager) and virtually blackmail him with the solution which you have for his problem. This is the deal which you make with him for the critical enhancement in the obsolete technology.

You want your entire old team of 4 to get assembled again and not just you.

You want to be on site with your team to deploy the enhancement.

The Manager hesitates and finally agrees as he is running out of options.

You go to each of your old team guys personally and explain the situation. All of the guys agrees since their old dream of being on site for the product is still vivid in their minds.

You guys work on the enhancement and finish it and it is all ready to get deployed in US. You start your journey from India and your family wishes you success all the way till airport. You guys have reached US and are on site. You guys share high fives for living your dreams after realising it was worth a wait.

You guys are analysing the live production before going with the deployment and you find that your product is misused for selling weapons to Terrorists.

What do you do now?

I just narrated the Clint Eastwood's Blockbuster 'Space Cowboys' with just few changes.

They are not software Engineers. They are Aeronautical Engineers.

Their on site was not US. It is the Moon.

Year 1985 is 1958

Year 2010 is 1998

The product is not a E-Commerce site. But a space shuttle.

And the prestigious company is NASA.

Make sense now?