July 1996 € Volume 6 € Number 7
Why Hasn't Technology Solved Our Problems?
Mastering change requires that you adopt an all-new perspective. If
you don't you're selling yourself short.
By Gregory A. Farley, Editor
I used to think it was a rhetorical question. I'd ask it every month, a
day or two before deadline, when I realized there were still reams of work
to be completed before the magazine could go to press. I asked the question
on other occasions, too: When I stood in line to buy automobile tags. When
I sat down to figure my taxes. While I sat in Atlanta traffic, motionless
on a state-of-the-art 14-lane superhighway outfitted with traffic sensors
and video cameras monitored around the clock.
I always thought it was a rhetorical question. But then I spoke with futurist
Daniel Burrus, who'll be a keynote speaker at APICS '96 in New Orleans,
and he had a simple explanation. Twenty-first Century technology hasn't
solved our problems because we are using these new tools in a 20th Century
fashion. (You can access my interview with Burrus by clicking
here.) That 14-lane superhighway might represent 21st Century technology,
but it feeds into 20th Century surface streets, so it's not much of a solution.
Simply put, technology has outstripped our ability to manage and our willingness
to change.
It's true, in some ways, here at Lionheart Publishing. When an author sends
me an article via E-mail, I generally ask for a hard copy via fax, even
though my desk is already covered with papers. The machinery on my desk
puts me in the technological catbird seat, but my 20th Century mind-set
tells me that, without a hard copy from the author, I have nothing to put
in the filing cabinet.
The paperless office, Round 2
It was about 20 years ago that personal computers started showing up in
offices across America. Early prognostications about the technology creating
a "paperless office," however, quickly bit the dust. Users found
that their new 21st Century computers and printers enabled them to create
paper documents much faster. The new technology was squandered on old processes.
Of course, we still possess the technology that puts a paperless office
(even a paperless economy) within our reach, and we are slowly developing
the mind-set that can make it happen.
So, beginning now, I'm doing my best to think like a 21st Century professional.
I'll eschew paper when I can, communicate digitally when it's possible,
look for new ways to apply technology to make myself more valuable to my
employer, and to make this magazine more valuable to its readers.
How will that work? Nobody knows for certain, but we do have some plans.
Already we've made a limited edition of the magazine available on our World
Wide Web Site (http://207.69.204.147/APICS.shtml).
You can also find there the 1996 Buyers Guide Online (http://207.69.204.147/apics/apics-2-96/BG/bgo.shtml),
which is constantly updated with new companies. In the future, we'll make
expanded versions of our annual MRP II and Finite Capacity Scheduling Software
Surveys available. We also plan to compile a digital archive of the magazine
-- a "knowledgebase" rather than a database -- searchable by author,
title, date and subject, and provide reprints of individual articles to
users via fax or E-mail.
Technology is the key
Of course, a 21st Century mind-set is a good thing to have, but it won't
do a lot for your business if it's not applied to the utilization of technology.
This presents an obstacle that many of us will have to face. Keeping current
with your industry's body of knowledge is a full-time job already, so even
if you possess the wherewithal to embrace technology, how do you find the
time it takes to master it?
John Bullock, the art director for the magazine, told me one day that he
spends more time reading computer magazines than design magazines. John
went to work in his first design job 22 years ago, long before professional
graphics packages had been developed for desktop computers. Now John must
keep up-to-date on the capabilities of new computer hardware and he has
to master a handful of tremendously complex and sophisticated software packages
(and the new functionality added by updates, too). The bottom line, according
to John, is that his work lacks currency (although I don't see it).
Daniel Burrus says that technology makes him an optimist. Me too. In terms
of staff, APICS--The Performance Advantage is the smallest magazine I've
every worked on; in terms of editorial pages produced per year, it is the
largest. Our computers help us tackle our 20th Century processes with speed
and grace. When we fully embrace a 21st Century mind-set, you'll all see
a better, more informative magazine. And, speaking for the entire staff
here at Lionheart Publishing, we're anxious to make it happen.
Gregory A. Farley is the editor of APICS-The Performance Advantage.
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