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Template:M intro technology rumours of our demise: Difference between revisions
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It is an ongoing marvel how commercial organisations can be so reliably profitable given the calibre of the hordes they employ to steer them. We have argued [[mediocrity drift|elsewhere]] that informal systems tend to be configured to ''ensure'' staff mediocrity over time. Others have too.<ref>See {{br|The Peter Principle}}; {{br|Parkinson’s Law}}: for classic studies.</ref> | It is an ongoing marvel how commercial organisations can be so reliably profitable given the calibre of the hordes they employ to steer them. We have argued [[mediocrity drift|elsewhere]] that informal systems tend to be configured to ''ensure'' staff mediocrity over time. Others have too.<ref>See {{br|The Peter Principle}}; {{br|Parkinson’s Law}}: for classic studies.</ref> | ||
There is some irony here. As western economies have shifted, from the production of ''things'' to the delivery of ''services'', the proportion of their workforce in “white collar work” has exploded. All kinds of occupations that scarcely existed a generation ago have weaponised themselves into self-declared professions. The ratio of jobs requiring, de facto, university degrees (the modern lite professional qualification) has grown. The number of universities have expanded; polytechnics rebadging themselves. This, too, feels like a [[system effect]] of the modernist orthodoxy: if we can only assess people by reference to formal criteria, then industries devoted to contriving and dishing out those criteria are sure to emerge. The self-interests of different constituencies in the system contrive to entrench each other: this is how feedback loops work | There is some irony here. As western economies have shifted, from the production of ''things'' to the delivery of ''services'', the proportion of their workforce in “white collar work” has exploded. All kinds of occupations that scarcely existed a generation ago have weaponised themselves into self-declared professions. The ratio of jobs requiring, ''de facto'', university degrees (the modern lite professional qualification) has grown. The number of universities have expanded; polytechnics rebadging themselves. This, too, feels like a [[system effect]] of the modernist orthodoxy: if we can only assess people by reference to formal criteria, then industries devoted to contriving and dishing out those criteria are sure to emerge. The self-interests of different constituencies in the system contrive to entrench each other: this is how feedback loops work. | ||
As our technologies expand and encroach taming the unbroken landscapes, and disrupting the already -broken in and cultivated ones, let us take a moment to salute the human ingenuity that it takes to occupy those “solved” pursuits with a second order of required white collar attention. ESG specialists have evolved to opine on and steward forward our dashboards and marshall criteria for our environmental and social governance strategies — strategies we were until not happy enough to leave in for guidance by Adam Smith’s invisible hand. Blockchain as a service has emerged to provide a solution to those | |||
Other feedback loops emerge to counteract them. The high modernist programme can measure by any observable criteria, not just formal qualifications. Its favourite is [[cost]].<ref>The great conundrum posed by [[Taiichi Ohno|Ohno-sensei]]’s [[Toyota Production System]] is why prioritise [[cost]] over [[waste]]? Because cost is numerical and can easily be measured by the dullest book-keeper. Knowing what is [[waste]]ful in a process requires analysis and understanding of the system, and so cannot be easily measured. We go eliminate ''cost'' as a lazy proxy. It makes you wonder why executives are paid so well.</ref> The basic proposition is, “Okay, we need a human resources operation. I can't gainsay that. But it need not be housed in London, nor staffed by Oxbridge grads, if Romanian school leavers, supervised by an alumnus from the Plovdiv Technical Institute with a diploma in personnel management, will do.” | Other feedback loops emerge to counteract them. The high modernist programme can measure by any observable criteria, not just formal qualifications. Its favourite is [[cost]].<ref>The great conundrum posed by [[Taiichi Ohno|Ohno-sensei]]’s [[Toyota Production System]] is why prioritise [[cost]] over [[waste]]? Because cost is numerical and can easily be measured by the dullest book-keeper. Knowing what is [[waste]]ful in a process requires analysis and understanding of the system, and so cannot be easily measured. We go eliminate ''cost'' as a lazy proxy. It makes you wonder why executives are paid so well.</ref> The basic proposition is, “Okay, we need a human resources operation. I can't gainsay that. But it need not be housed in London, nor staffed by Oxbridge grads, if Romanian school leavers, supervised by an alumnus from the Plovdiv Technical Institute with a diploma in personnel management, will do.” | ||