Managing Automation - September 2008 - (Page 66)

robert malone NEXT The Avalanche Point robomalone@aol.com We are facing too many problems in the world with too few executable solutions. Who will take up where George Carlin left off in warning us? We all have heard of the tipping point. But what we are experiencing today is an avalanche point: the moment in time when an avalanche lets loose to bury us. There is nothing subtle about it. This is not the landing of an Indonesian butterfly in New Jersey that changes the world. It isn’t chaos theory; it is the logic of friction. In every generation, there are people who warn about society’s problems and excesses. Many of them use humor as their foil. In the past, the articulate and caustic Mark Twain played such a role, as did Will Rogers, W.C. Fields, H.L. Mencken, and, of course, the disturbing Lenny Bruce. More recently, George Carlin took up the fight. Can anyone follow his act? Those who loved him would probably say no. Social critics are often reviled for their commentary on contemporary practices and attitudes. But these critics generally speak out of concern for humanity’s future. They tend to have a deep understanding of human history. They take umbrage at people whose notion of the past extends no further than yesterday and whose vision of the future is limited to tomorrow. As the social critics tell us, the problems eventually come home to roost and, voilà, the avalanche. We currently face innumerable crises: global warming, fuel shortages, endangered species, national security threats, extreme weather, fires, droughts, rampant bedbugs, AIDS, ethnic cleansing, nasty jellyfish in the oceans, a still struggling post-Katrina New Orleans, ferry boats capsized and rescues thwarted by toxic cargo, salmonella in the jalapeños, counterfeit products, crooked voting in Africa the list goes on. What are we doing about these problems? We know so much, but we seem able to do so little. We can look into craters on Mercury but not 2008 maonline managingautomation.com For more of Robert Malone’s views, visit: u Think of the Head, Ramón www.managingautomation .com/next52 u Watch and Learn www.managingautomation .com/next51 u Growing Pains www.managingautomation .com/next50 Robert Malone, based in New York, is principal of Robert Malone Associates and former editor-in-chief of Managing Automation. ma 66 September Photo: Dirk Kikstra into caves in the mountains of Afghanistan. Our communications and mobile robot technologies are exquisite, though open to spam and hacking. We can design and manufacture refined products such as iPods and BlackBerrys. We can break atoms apart. We can parse a human being’s genetic makeup. But we can’t fix a levee in New Orleans or stop a muskrat from destroying a levee along the Mississippi River. We have known there would be an oil crisis for decades and yet appear paralyzed to make changes to avoid it. Most folks would agree that social and economic structures and relationships have not kept pace with advances in technology. If disruptive technology is the impetus for growth, would disruptive social and economic applications help us? We have friction to spare. Now what we need are remedies. How do we set things right? How do we get water to people without water, food to people without food, and convince those who waste both in calamitous quantities to reduce their intake? How do we distribute and produce energy in a way that makes it affordable to 6.6 billion people? How do we distribute manufacturing and service jobs so that the average family has a chance at economic balance? How do we improve education and educate those who have none? The world needs social critics like George Carlin to wake us up, and the world needs disruptive technological and social innovation to shake up the status quo before the avalanche buries us. s http://www.managingautomation.com http://www.managingautomation.com/next52 http://www.managingautomation/next51 http://www.managingautomation.next50

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

Managing Automation - September 2008 Contents Take 1 Letters Tech Vendors Defy Economic Slump by Plugging into Developing World Growth New E2open Chief Outlines Plan to Accelerate Growth Is This Marketing as It Used to Be or Something New? The OMAC Group Attempts to Widen Its Influence Automation Federation Names Chief, Plots Growth Notes Cover story: The Innovation Gap Special Report: Meet the Progressive Manufacturing High Achievers Progressive Manufacturer of the Year Business Model Mastery Innovation Mastery Customer Mastery Supply Network Mastery Data & Integration Mastery Education & Training Mastery Leadership Mastery Operational Excellence Mastery Special Report: Catching the Wireless Wave Part 1: No Clear Infrastructure Winner Part 2: Wireless Apps Take Wing Part 3: The Human Side of Wireless Product Scan Advertiser Index Next

Managing Automation - September 2008

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