Law of Unintended Consequences

Have you ever had one of those Homer Simpson “D'oh!” moments? Well, I did a couple of days ago while chatting with my son at dinner. He is in a co-op at a manufacturing company, entering his junior year in mechanical engineering. He was talking about using a computer program to design parts of a molding machine and how to check to make sure the part will fit.

The reason for my “D'oh!” was my most recent home renovation that I discussed a few weeks ago in my blog. As with any project, there are always some unintended consequences. In my case, we significantly changed the roof line of the house, so much so that more water drains to the front of the house and the downspout must run over the sidewalk to the front door to keep the water away from the house. 

Hmmm…it does not look great and is a big tripping hazard—for me mostly! So after a few discussions with my contractor, we are running a drain under the sidewalk around the corner of the house and, most importantly, away from the house. Had we run a three-dimensional drawing program on the project, we would have seen this minor but important issue. What frustrates me more is that, as many of you know, I preach a lot about testing document systems before they go live so you don’t have unintended errors that may be costlier than my minor drainage issue.

Learn from my mistake: If you are thinking about changing loan or deposit document systems or core processing systems or even adding new technology, it is important to test for not only compliance, but also consistency with your products and other disclosures. If you are looking for assistance, our Wipfli compliance team can assist you. Please contact us to discuss. It never hurts to get a second opinion.