Managing Automation - March 2008 - (Page 50)

robert malone NEXT The Digital Devolution rmalone@tpmgnet.com Modern technology has given us nearly instantaneous access to information, but we don’t seem to have figured out how to act on it quickly. The contrast between classical and modern accomplishments makes me think that the faster we know things, the slower we execute. What if the ancient Athenians had had cell phones and computers? Let’s listen in on a cell phone conversation between Parthenon sculptor Phidias and his wife early one morning: “Hi, Hon, I’m at the Acropolis and getting organized. We are about to lift Apollo into the pediment.” “That’s all well and good, Husband, but can you bring some red wine back? And Mother needs a new amphora to replace the one that your nasty cousin, Sosphenes, broke when he visited us.” “I’ll bring an amphora full of red wine — how about that? Alcibides has a three-for-two special at his Wines-R-Us store over at the agora.” “Mother likes the old style — and none of those naked ladies on the amphora. And, Phidias, dry, for Apollo’s sake.” “Have to go, Hon. They are about to drop poor Apollo, and I have a call waiting from someone named Mel Brooks.” OK, so Phidias didn’t have a cell phone, a computer, a CAD program, or, we hope, a nagging wife, and yet, with great vision, sculpting skills, and persistence, he created what may be the greatest building sculptures in the world. Phidias and architects Iktinos and Kallikrates built the Parthenon from 447 B.C. to 432 B.C. — a scant 15 years. By way of comparison, the Great Pyramid of Giza took about 20 years to build, ending around 2560 B.C. The Egyptians accomplished that with slaves, oxen, and probably lots of beer. In the 20th century, construction of the Empire State Building started on March 17, 1930, and finished on March 1, 1931, just shy of a year — and there was a depression on. They used steam shovels, and communication depended on how loudly they could shout from steel beam to steel beam. Now, it will be 10 years or longer before the flag goes up on the Freedom Tower at the site of the World Trade Center, toppled by terrorists in 2001. Could it be that as communication and computing speed up, execution slows down? Consider the great tragedy of Katrina. We knew within minutes that New Orleans was in trouble. Wal-Mart managed within days to restock its stores, but years later, the government still can’t do more than provide biologically tainted trailers. And in Iraq, we learned almost immediately that our Humvees were vulnerable to roadside bombs. Nearly two-thirds of the Marines killed in Iraq were in Humvees. After four years of war, the Pentagon finally has commissioned a replacement. As I’ve written before, civil engineers for years have called attention to the nation’s failing infrastructure. Recently, our answer to the danger of plane collisions at New York’s JFK Airport was to cut back on flights. Don’t even think of building another runway. Let me declare Malone’s rule: We know things ever more quickly and we act ever more slowly. Is it lack of leadership? Is it political? Is it intelligent design gone wrong? Is it devolution? Is it a matter of who gets the most money? Is it that we don’t really care and want to be left alone to download more hip-hop onto our iPods? When the message of the mind doesn’t reach the instruments of our bodies for transformation into action, the beast is either sick or dying. s Robert Malone, based in New York, is principal of Robert Malone Associates and former editor-in-chief of Managing Automation. maonline managingautomation.com For more of Robert Malone’s views, visit: u Values Rebuilt Here www.managingautomation .com/next46 u Road Closed www.managingautomation .com/next45 u An Intelligent Response www.managingautomation .com/next44 ma 50 2008 March Photo: Dirk Kikstra http://www.managingautomation.com http://www.managingautomation.com/next46 http://www.managingautomation.com/next45 http://www.managingautomation.com/next44

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Managing Automation - March 2008

Managing Automation - March 2008 Contents Take 1 Mailbox Mitsubishi, IBM, and ILS Team Up to Make Integration Easy for Automakers Former Agile Exec Takes the Reins at Arena Solutions The Next Phase for 2006’s PM Award Winner Integration Firm Boomi Redesigns for On-Demand Ex-Wonderware Chief Takes Helm at Apprion Notes Cover Story: A Rare Breed Special Report: Where are Control Architectures Heading? Transformation: Back to Reality Integration: Getting Standards Under One Roof Industries: The Quest for the Perfect Order Product Scan Advertiser Index Next

Managing Automation - March 2008

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