An interesting thing happens when your customer base reaches a certain size: You cease having edge cases. I think we’ve probably been at that point for a good year now – maybe longer – but we’ve really felt it recently.

Mistakes, bugs, incompatibilities, and related issues that used to affect a handful now affect hundreds. 1% is a real number now.

This requires some organizational change. More caution, more testing, more contingency planning, more disaster planning. These are good things in one direction and frustrating things in another. Regardless, they’re real and here to stay.

It’s a healthy reminder that companies can change, policies can change, techniques can change, perspectives can change. This change can come quick or take many years, but it’s usually already happened before you really notice it. It’s your job to catch up with it. What once worked before may not work again just as what didn’t work before may work now.

Personally, I’m finding it invigorating. It’s a new challenge for us as we continue to grow—people, revenues, exposure, influence, and responsibility.

As we approach our 10th anniversary, I’m reminded of what we’ve always known to be true: simpler is better, clarity is king, complexity is often man-made, and doing the right thing is the right way to do things.