The news is full of it. We are being warned by the experts all the time that the world as we know it will be changed soon. Is it now the time we start to worry? I dare to say NO.
What I mean is that there is no need to worry about the change but to be prepared for it. Just as with any other revolutionary ideas or inventions in the past like for example the wheel, steam, electricity, line production or silicon chips, the world has changed but didn’t crumble…
So, what can we do to be prepared? I’ll try to use my vast experience with eliminating pointless human work in corporate world to help you understand my point of view. To start, by pointless work I mean the one that I believe can be simply done more effectively already. Two-meter whole won’t be dug by 10 people in 2 days but by 1 person with a digger in one hour. This is the mindset that every human being getting ready for a change should have. I’m not losing job, but there is a world of opportunities to move to a different position, different role where my work will be more valuable.
Let’s explore the rules of this new revolution in details.
Think about whether what you do is still needed – I’ve experienced so many occasions where everybody where congratulated because of new robot or new development of automated mechanism has been used to complete tasks that otherwise were taking up lot of time, weren’t they. If was only after few months when it was discovered that the robot was carefully saving its outputs into the target file but the opening of the new files was patiently at 0. Before something is developed and automated and you start spending money (yours or someone else’s), think about why you needed and whom you are doing it for.
Do not stick to only one way – Those who are dancing in the corporate world have been probably exposed to a similar situation. I know that finalising concrete information into a document is a matter of two days of development. But when I make an inquiry to the development team, they come back with a 4 months deadline because simply that team is overloaded. But the robotic team is offered and ready to help. Hooray! But careful there. Consider whether the road that looks simple at the beginning won’t be complicated in a long term. Automated integration and robotics have its own specification, advantages and disadvantages. However, that is a topic for a whole new article. So do not stick to only one option but always consider all the benefits and minuses of every possibility.
Calculate, if it’s worth it – There is nothing simpler than set tasks for automation, robotics or digitalization of a new process and be happy about each addition. Even I am one for all the naughty stuff, but it actually has to be worth it! Remember the digger example that I showed at the beginning. It’s not worth it to rent a digger if we want to dig one small hole or rent a digger with a driver in order for him to wait whole day for his 5-minute run.
This is an introductory article to a broad topic that I like to develop further more. Hence, I will be happy for your feedback. If you have any topic that interests you, I could contribute to it in a next article.
Tomáš Skácel – Over ten years now I make the corporate world more effective.
