Skip to main content

Amazon delivery | Rome 345 AD


A quick allegory regarding digital transformation. 



You have a thriving delivery business based in Rome, 345 AD.  Imagine that you are the first company to introduce, what will become Amazon delivery centuries from now, a package service.  Your route is a bit treacherous, filled with small rises and many rocks.  As he wipes the sweat from his brow, a glance to the right reveals the perfect route, straight, flat and rock free.  Each day, as you push and pull, you dream about one day figuring out how to cut through the thick vegetation and open a faster and more efficient path. 



One afternoon, while eating lunch on the side of the road, your buddy Flavius sits down to visit with you awhile.  Quintus, my friend, you have to check out my new set of wheels.  Flavius continues; "my cousin returned from his long journey, back from Mesopotamia, where he found these round wheels".  Standing in complete shock, Quintus could not believe his eyes, and more importantly imagined how much more efficient his deliveries would be once he swapped out his square wheels for rounds ones.  This changes everything!



As the newness of the round wheels wears off Quintus realizes that, while the round wheels are nice, it has only impacted his business incrementally.  Not to mention, all of the other carts now have round wheels as his friend Flavius' new business the "Big Stone Wheel" shop seemed to be gaining traction (pun intended) in the market.  Day after day, Quintus still wonders, if I could, get through that vegetation imagine the opportunity it would bring.  It's a story that has stood the test of time, you are in your business, working all angles to provide value, who has time to figure out how to use the new tools and explore un-chartered paths?



Modern interpretation

  1. Paragraph one:  Your gut tells you that something can be done; however, you struggle to express those feelings or thoughts into action.  A classic example of the right-side of your brain (feelings and visualization) failing to communicate with the left side of your brain (logic, action, words).
  2. Paragraph two:  The move to the cloud for many, sadly stops at the use of email and file management.  This is more akin to catching up then leading…
  3. Paragraph three:  Deploying cloud platforms does not quench the thirst of those trying to answer the question "if I could".  Today the tools provided, many times with your email and file management, are very robust and ready for you to leverage. 



Ask yourself, is your world digitally flat?



Your cloud platform users have an itch that can't be scratched, they are individually wondering, "if I could" do this or that with these tools, imagine how much better my work experience would be…
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

In$pired

As the steam from Avid Andy's coffee fogged his glasses on this crisp January morning, he reflected on last year and thought enthusiastically about the year ahead.   Sometimes the noise of business is deafening, we rarely take the time to contemplate our moves, instead are often thrown one direction or another.   Hey, face it, if you are reading posts to gain perspective you fall in the group of folks who pride themselves as obsequious hoop-jumpers.   We live to help others and expect that all of those around us feel the same way.   I just love Influential Irene.   Okay, it is out in the open, she is an inspiration for me and so many others.   Irene reminds folks every year, without fail, these three statements which she fondly refers to as "the punchline" (although this is no joke).   Businesses, of any size, will be successful if they remember that it is people that make a company.   Put this advice into practice, today: Sincerity |...
Post a Comment
Read more

expert at everything...not a problem

Well... I would say sometimes there certainly is a perceived notion that one person is an expert at everything. For the worker "everything" may be defined as the specific area in which you were hired or are constantly scheduled. Our opinions are frequently influenced off of past experience, or information we've received from their coworkers. Unfortunately this only gives us partial insight to that workers expertise and often is limited to their most recent history. Narrowly focused accounting is made of the skills that this individual possess. Come on, can't we figure out a way to leverage all of the skills of a particular worker? One of the challenges has always been that relationship between the activities which need to be accomplished and the myriad skills of individuals within your workforce. In addition, even if you could inventory and get a pretty good handle on the skill sets, they are constantly changing (with any luck) and thus the ineffective process of ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Stream of consciousness

" I wonder if today will be different thought Influential Irene, praying that she would not be barraged with questions throughout the day.   Overwhelmed Oscar, only two weeks with the organization is filled with anxiety just knowing he can't remember everything he's learned.   How do I process payroll again he asks himself as he works quietly for hours hoping to hide his incompetency" .   If there was a mechanism, one which would point them in the right direction, to help them with every day "in the moment" questions.   Even if everything was static, new and tenured employees alike simply forget details, especially those tasks which are done infrequently.   The amount of time spent and frustration endured each and every minute of the working day is significant and often happens without any visibility.   Natural language processing and chat bot technologies are emerging as strong candidates to help us all address this life-long challenge of relevan...
Post a Comment
Read more