Some countries are more stationary than others…
‘Some countries are more stationary than others…’ So said Damien Saunder, former Director of Cartography for National Geographic and now at Apple. He was talking about the movement of the tectonic plate under Australia, which, over the last twenty years, has moved the continent about 7cm a year. GPS, with all its remarkable accuracy, can’t track changes like continental drift, and so regular manual system corrections are required to take it into account. Until humans intervene to correct the drift, the inaccuracy is known and adjusted – by humans.
We could say the same about businesses. Proactive firms use data that can get close to the broadest strategic destination. Lots of companies simply don’t plan the journey.
But even with wonderfully specific data, analysed to meet your exact needs, computers don’t have Eureka moments. Using that data to build an effective business strategy takes energy, teamwork, discussion. Human qualities. And just like GPS, when we get to the fine detail of business strategy, humans need to intervene.
We’ve said it before, robots may be coming to take your jobs but probably not until they can climb stairs. Even if they are where GPS says they are.
Future thinking. Future-proofing. Hybrid harmony. It’s what we do.