Cargo Cult Strategy

During World War II, natives on Pacific islands saw something most unusual. Strange men appeared, cleared long strips of land and built structures decorated with flags. Some of these men wore large cups over their ears, while others waved sticks and, almost magically, machines appeared from the sky carrying valuable cargo.

After the war ended, the men left and the supplies stopped coming. Some of the natives formed cargo cults which copied many of the the rituals the soldiers performed. They marched in formation, wore cups over their ears and waved sticks around. Alas, no airplanes ever came.

Clearly, the idea was patently absurd. Anybody who thinks that waving sticks will cause airplanes to appear is missing some basic principles about how air travel works. Yet many modern executives also believe by mimicking the tactics of others they will somehow achieve the same results. These “cargo cult strategists” don’t do much better than the islanders.

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The real cost of robotics | TechCrunch

While reading such articles, keep in mind that many robots are not mechanical; they are software.

(excerpt):

“Why is the media taking such an interest now? Because today, the robotics industry has a set of fresh economic and political messages:Robots are becoming affordable. Anyone can benefit from purchasing a robot.Robots will increase our production efficiency.Robots will allow us to “reshore” (run away from China).We will be able to make things in our country again.We will get rid of workers — they are just too expensive and too lazy and kids these days don’t want factory jobs anyway.Although all of the above are true to some degree, the simplicity of media coverage distorts the real situation. After watching numerous videos showing cool automation in action, it would be easy for you to get the wrong idea about how much effort it takes to automate anything.”

Source: The real cost of robotics | TechCrunch

Why “philosophical consulting?” | Humberto Mariotti | LinkedIn

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-philosophical-consulting-humberto-mariotti

What Is the Difference Between Merit Pay Incentives & Pay for Performance? | Chron.com

Merit pay and pay for performance are related but not exactly identical terms. Merit pay incentive plans reward performance by increasing the employee’s salary on a long-term basis. Other forms of pay for performance reward employees without increasing their salary. All forms of pay for performance are designed to motivate employees to meet performance goals.

Source: What Is the Difference Between Merit Pay Incentives & Pay for Performance? | Chron.com

Making Yourself Work : zen habits

Making Yourself Work : zen habits.

How to Fuel Collaboration & Innovation: 2015 99U Conference Recap 1 – 99U

This is a powerful statement:

“Don’t confuse outputs for outcomes. We often celebrate the outputs of our work. When something gets launched or when we cross another checkbox off of our to-do list. But by celebrating outputs instead of outcomes, we lose the spark of what motivated us to innovate in the first place. We don’t do what we do to cross items off a list, we do what we do because it has an impact. “Don’t get blinded by the output and celebrate the wrong win,” Reynolds stated. His example? Building a well isn’t what we celebrate. Instead, celebrate when the well is providing clean water and better health for an entire village.”

via How to Fuel Collaboration & Innovation: 2015 99U Conference Recap 1 – 99U.

“The Culture Map”: 8 Scales For Work – Business Insider

“The Culture Map”: 8 Scales For Work – Business Insider.

Jeremy Howard: The wonderful and terrifying implications of computers that can learn | Talk Video | TED.com

Jeremy Howard: The wonderful and terrifying implications of computers that can learn | Talk Video | TED.com.

 

Jeremy Howard: The wonderful and terrifying implications of computers that can learn:

“The Machine Learning Revolution is going to be very different from the Industrial Revolution, because the Machine Learning Revolution, it never settles down. The better computers get at intellectual activities, the more they can build better computers to be better at intellectual capabilities, so this is going to be a kind of change that the world has actually never experienced before, so your previous understanding of what’s possible is different.” |

Talk Video | TED.com – http://go.shr.lc/1BpUQhQ

Speed Kills – The Chronicle Review – The Chronicle of Higher Education

Fast is never fast enough

via Speed Kills – The Chronicle Review – The Chronicle of Higher Education.

If You Want To Avoid Being Replaced By A Robot, Here’s What You Need To Know | Digital Tonto

Learning To Ask Questions Instead Of Give AnswersIt used to be that the smartest guy in the room was the one who had all the answers. Knowing a lot of information was what got you good grades on tests, gave you access to top universities and propelled you into a lucrative career.  Yet even a genius from 20 years ago can’t match a normal teenager today armed with a smartphone.In truth, humans are pretty lousy information processors.  We have fairly low capacity, error-prone memories and absolutely horrific abilities in calculation.  Computers, however excel at those things.However, as McAfee and Brynjolfsson point out in their book—and I think this is one of their most salient points—computers are still very poor at asking insightful questions.  They solve the problems we tell them to, but aren’t very good at deciding which problems to pursue.It’s no longer that important what you know, but identifying what you don’t know that could be important is becoming an essential skill.

via If You Want To Avoid Being Replaced By A Robot, Here’s What You Need To Know | Digital Tonto.