Template:M intro design System redundancy: Difference between revisions

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→‎Sciencing the shit out of business

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 ====Sciencing the shit out of business====
-[[Data modernism]]’s central [[metaphor]] works by treating humans in the workforce as if they were carbon-based [[Turing machine]]s, and “the firm” a [[distributed network]] of automatons. Such a network is best optimised centrally, from the place with the best view of the big picture: the top.<ref>Curiously, this is not the theory behind distributed computing, which is rather [[end-to-end principle|controlled from the edges]]. But still.</ref>
+[[Data modernism]]’s central [[metaphor]] works by treating human workers as if they were carbon-based [[Turing machine]]s, and “the firm” an orchestrated network of automatons. Orchestration happens centrally, from the place with the best view of the big picture: the top.<ref>Curiously, this is not the theory behind distributed computing, which is rather [[end-to-end principle|controlled from the edges]]. But still.</ref>
-From the top, the only legible information is [[data]], and so all germane information about the organisation must take the form of [[data]] — you know: “[[Signal-to-noise ratio|In God we trust, all others must bring data]]”. With enough data, so the theory goes, everything about the organisation’s ''present'' can be known, and from a more or less complete picture of the present one can extrapolate to the future. This, says [[data modernism]] is the promise of science and technology.<ref>It isn’t. It really, really isn’t. But still.</ref>
+From the top, the only “[[Legibility|legible]]” information is [[data]], so all germane  [[Management information and statistics|management information]] takes that form — you know: “[[Signal-to-noise ratio|In God we trust, all others must bring data]]”. With enough of the stuff, so the theory goes, everything about the organisation’s ''present'' can be known, and from a complete picture of the present one can extrapolate to the future.
-Armed with all the data, the organisation’s permanent infrastructure can be honed down and dedicated to its core business, and peripheral functions — [[operation]]s, [[personnel]], [[legal]] and ''~ cough ~'' strategic [[management consultant|management advice]] — genericised and outsourced to specialist service providers who can be scaled up or down as requirements dictate<ref>“Surge pricing” in times of crisis, though.</ref> or switched out should they malfunction or otherwise be surplus to requirements.<ref>A former general counsel of UBS once had the bright idea of creating a “shared service” out of its legal function that could be contracted out to other banks, like Credit Suisse. He kept bringing the idea up, though it was rapidly pooh-poohed each time. Who knew it would work out so well in practice?</ref>
+Armed with all the [[Signal-to-noise ratio|data]], the organisation’s permanent infrastructure can be honed down and dedicated to its core business. Peripheral functions — [[operation]]s, [[personnel]], [[legal]] and ''~ cough ~'' strategic [[management consultant|management advice]] — can be [[Outsourcing|outsourced]] to specialist service providers, and then scaled up or down as management priorities dictate<ref>“Surge pricing” in times of crisis, though.</ref> or switched out should they malfunction or otherwise be surplus to requirements.<ref>A former general counsel of UBS once had the bright idea of creating a “shared service” out of its legal function that could be contracted out to other banks, like [[Credit Suisse]]. He kept bringing the idea up, though it was rapidly pooh-poohed each time. Who knew it would work out so well in practice?</ref>
-This philosophy of optimally efficient allocation of resources, espoused as it is by ''~ cough ~'' strategic [[management consultant| management advisors]] — can seem self-serving. It is responsible for a generational drift from inefficient businesses run arbitrarily by unionised humans to enterprises run like unblinking machines: infinitesimally-sliced ''processes'', each [[triage]]d and managed by pre-automated applications, with what minimal human oversight there is provided by external service providers in low-cost locations.
+We should, by now, feel like we are in a new and better world — right? — yet the customer experience as poor as ever. Not ''worse'', necessarily: just no ''better''. Just try getting hold of a bank manager now. “BAU-as-a-service” has streamlined and enhanced the great heft what businesses do, at the cost of depersonalising service and eliminating outlying opportunities for which the model says there is no business case.
-''Business'' became “business-process-as-a-service”.
-We should, by now, feel like we are in a new and better world — right? — yet customer experience feels worse than ever. Just try getting hold of a bank manager now. “BAU-as-a-service” has streamlined and enhanced the great heft what businesses do, at the cost of outlying opportunities for which the model says there is insufficient business case.
 ====Pareto triage====