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To Start
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What is
the Value of Independent Thought?
Have you thought about this
recently? No? Do you have Independent Thought?
I was musing on this just recently.
I work on the edges of the IT industry. I work with databases, client
interfaces, web interfaces, from a PC point of view. And from my neck
of the woods, one can see clear trends.
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Trend 1 - Jadedness with PCs.
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PCs have been with us for years now.
My first Apple ][ clone was sometime in 1987. My first IBM PC
clone a few years later. By 1991 I was on Windows. The great leap
forward for most people was when Windows 3.1 was launched. Then we
had a dizzying trail of innovation, glitz and marketing. But after
2000, concurrent with the new millenium, people stopped looking
forward to new PCs.
One could say that people had
developed Independent Thought on their PCs. They had developed
ways of working, ways of thinking. To the extent that buying new
PCs are invasive to their mind and their procedures.
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Trend 2 - The Re-birth of Centralised Computing
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Before PCs were common, there was
still activity. Except that you had to share a mainframe or a
mainframe service. You rented hours to log on and do your thing.
Then PCs came. Spoilt everything.
Because you had a machine that you could turn on and have fun
without sharing with anyone. Without leasing. Without renting. The
machine was wholly yours. Microsoft was a company that revelled in
that idea - "Down with mainframes, Up with Independent
Thought". It was a win-win for Microsoft and for the end
user.
Now, it's spoilt again. Because the
end user has found what he wants, he is having fun with
independent thought. And ignoring new toys from Microsoft. And of
course, ignoring Sun and IBM.
So what happens? Microsoft ⁄
Sun ⁄ IBM looking for new ways to make money want you to
depart from independent thought. They want you to buy into
subscriptions for their services. Oh, their services will entice
you with "News of the World" or at least of the Stock
Exchange. But they don't want you to use your PC much - they want
you to rent ⁄ lease ⁄ subscribe again.
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Trend 3 - The Rise of ERP, CRM, SRM
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First, there was Enterprise Resource
Planning. My, how they can fuss up an accounting program with
words like "Strategic", "Planning",
"Resource". That went well especially in Year 2000 when
people were worried that their old accounting system would break.
When the last of the Big Corporates
had paid their dues, the Big Software Guys needed continuing,
better than ever revenue and diversification. So they pushed
Customer Relationship Management - what a rise of glory for the
quiet little PIM (Personal Information Manager) that the Sales
Team had been using to track their customers.
But you can't flog a dead horse and
when it's low tide business, CRMs don't make the same money as
ERPs.
So why not deliver an SRM - Supplier
Relationship Manager - ooh, that hinges onto bigger business and
longer drawn events like B2B (Business to Business data exchange).
Moolah!
Where's the Independent Thought in
that? Your little Sidekick is no longer Personal - it's now Notes
shared by Tom, Dick and Harry.
Your whacky and wonderful Lotus
1-2-3 ⁄ Excel spreadsheet and "I made it myself"
Microsoft Access database has succumbed to SAP.
Hang on, do they need your jottings
and your intelligence? Do they? Have they identified that this is
worthy of inclusion into their KPI (Key Performance Index)
benchmarks? No? Well, if that has not been recorded, your
intelligence, your persona, that's not really needed is it?
Well, since your intelligence is not
measured, just your output⁄performance, and the ERP tool
will suppress any need for Excel⁄Access, you don't need to
be trained. I mean, you and your colleague are indistinguishable,
right? They've already embedded all the business processes and
business rules in the ERP tool. Right?
Don't actually need your Independent
Thought? Right?
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So What IS Independent Thought?
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What is Independent Thought? When is it
worthwhile? When is it not Worthwhile?
To get you musing, think of the American
Enron or the Australian One.Tel debacles. Do you think that these
juggernaughts would have arisen if someone in their Management line of
command had had Independent Thought and said "Hey - I don't like
or agree with that! Let's NOT DO THIS"
Do you think Microsoft circa 2000 is the
Goliath and the enemy of Independent Thought? Or do you think Linux is
the preserve of Independent Thought? Well, it depends on which side of
the counter you're on.
Linux techoes actually believe they have
Independent Thought. They believe that they are anti-establishment
(i.e. anti Microsoft), they are Open Source. They are 20 years olds
looking at 40 year old Microsofties who pay through the nose for
products and service. When you're 20, you're a rebel. You gotta be.
This is the X Gen.
But what about you, the end user? You're
probably not nerdy enough to spend 18 hours a day looking at source
code to find where the last ++ was or whether you put a ; at the end
of a line.
My point is, you'll be a user. Whether
you are sitting in front of a Linux machine or a Microsoft machine,
you'll be a user. If you sit in front of a Corporate machine, your
machine will probably be nailed down by your IT or by your Company's
outsourced IT provider.
You'll have to put in a helpdesk request
to change the screen resolution or your font size. And wait some more
before they say it can be done but they won't because it is not SOE
and could you sign here please for taking 15 minutes of their time to
read your request and reply to you.
Have you got Independent Thought?
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How do you support Independent Thought?
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Oh, would I tell my grandfather how to suck
eggs? (Old saying)
There's people who had an over abundance of
Independent Thought. And they make the biggest noises in any workplace.
Whether they are right and whether their Independent Thought is
worthwhile, well, that's something that has to be qualified.
Who can sit in judgement? Can you? Can their
Boss? Hmmm
Here are some of my proposals for
Independent Thought Initiatives
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Train your People
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C'mon. Independent Thought is good. But
there's chaff in the wheat. Needles in the Haystack.
The more Independent Thoughts that are
brought out, the more you can choose and pick. The more experience you
have in choosing which one is Worthwhile and which one Sucks, the
better you will be at choosing Independent Thought.
But you gotta start with some good raw
material first.
Choose Good People. Coach your People.
Choose Good Teachers, don't sell short by sending everyone through
bulk sausage making factories.
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Choose the Right Tool
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Just because you've spent last year's
profits on implementing that humongous ERP, don't keep flogging it. It
has it's uses. It's good for ensuring conformity, for having a system.
But running a successful business is not
about conformity (only). It's about innovation. It's about taking the
Lead. How can you take the Lead when you're using the same Tool as the
NEXT GUY?
Pick people who can think for
themselves. Give them Thinking Tools. Excel. Access. Outliners. Idea
Mappers.
Go!
Enable IT
“Finance are the worst people to drive IT because I believe IT to be a
business-enabler, not a cost-saver,” he says. “This means a very
significant part of IT – to enable more business to be generated and give
you a competitive advantage against the other guy – is barely used at all."
- Sir John Harvey-Jones
Full article in www.misweb.com
Edited: 01/10/2002 |
