Speed of Technology

Speed of Technology and Associated Blur

Evans, Timothy M.

219-80-3711

Bus 520 Section 8016

The world has quickly transitioned from the industrial age to the information age at the turn of the century. Tools and machines have become less important as the power of data collection and analysis is realized. Data, and the methods employed to extract intelligence from it, are more flexible than any machine could be. Therefore, changes approaching us from the future come faster and faster. As in a vehicle traveling at high velocities, it becomes difficult to focus on trivial issues. This loss of focus in fast technological change is known as blur.

Technology advancements come from all directions. There are numerous ways to attack any given problem and myriad tools that may have slight advantages and disadvantages over one another. Tradeoffs must be considered between upgrading legacy systems and replacing entire networks. There are financial and schedule-based tradeoffs between creating a custom solution or buying a mass-produced item and making it fit. There are ethical and human resource tradeoffs in considering the extensive reach of even small changes. Each of these tradeoffs and considerations must be taken into account when evaluating the state of technology and planning the future of a business.

As leaders of enterprise, executives learn to have selective vision. There are so many problems and so many options for each solution. Executives learn to concentrate only on the problems that will have the most impact to the success and long-term goals of the corporation. Ethical considerations and concern for the employees of the corporation must always be included in the long-term goals. In choosing a solution, executives focus only on the solutions that have proven to be effective in the past or those that have obvious potential to be effective in the future.

Making Meaningful Measurements

Everyone...