Version Conflict Is a Symptom: The Real Disease Is No ‘Source of Truth’

The Conference Call Collision

It is the Weekly Status Call. There are 12 people on the line. The Partner starts reading from the “Final Report.” “As you can see on the graph, revenue is up 10%.”

The Client CFO interrupts. “My graph shows revenue is flat.”

Silence. Then the shuffling of papers. Then the frantic clicking of mice. “Oh,” says the Partner. “You must have the version I sent Tuesday. I updated it Wednesday.” “But I made edits to the Tuesday version!” screams the CFO.

No grazie. The meeting is over. The credibility is gone. We are no longer discussing revenue; we are discussing file management.

This is the Fog of War. When you cannot agree on what is real, you cannot agree on a decision.

The Friction: The Distributed Lie

The root cause is that we allow Multiple Truths to exist.

• Truth A is on the Partner’s laptop.
• Truth B is in the Client’s email inbox.
• Truth C is on the shared drive.

We label them Final_v1, Final_v2. This is a lie. “Final” is a state, not a name. When you email a file, you clone the truth. Now you have two truths. They will diverge. They will conflict.

The Accelerator: The Single Link Rule

We solve this with a dictatorship. The Deal Room is the Source of Truth.

If it is not in the room, it does not exist.

The Rules of Engagement:

1. One Name Only: The file is named Project_Alpha_Master_Deck. It never changes. We do not add _v1 or _v2 to the filename. The system tracks the versions in the background. The filename remains constant.

2. The “Current” Tag: We use the portal’s tagging feature. The live file gets a big green tag: [CURRENT]. All previous versions are automatically moved to history or untagged.

3. The “Lock and Load”: If the Associate is editing the file, they Lock it. If the Partner tries to open it, the system says: “Locked by Mario.” Subito. No conflict possible. The Partner waits or calls Mario.

4. The Call to Action: When we update the file, we do not email the file. We email: “The Master Deck has been updated. Click here to view.”

When the CFO says “My graph is different,” you say: “Please click the link in the chat. That is the only valid graph.”

Force them to the source. Eliminate the copies. When there is only one truth, there is no argument. Just a Sign-off.

FAQs

What if I need to work offline?

Check the file out. Lock it. Work. Check it in. Never work in parallel without a lock.

How do we handle the client editing a downloaded copy?

We tell them: 'Any edits not made in the portal are void.' Be hard on this.

Is it okay to keep old versions?

Yes, in an 'Archive' folder. Never next to the live file. History belongs in a museum, not on the desk.