I have a confession to make, I love to read. Not just an occasional book on holiday or a few minutes on the brief, or often the not so brief, train journey into and out of London but all the time. Right now has never been a better time for those with a love of reading! The rise of digital media means that not only can you consume it pretty much anywhere at any time but more importantly it is making it easier for more people to share their ideas and experience.
Recently I came across a book called “Thank You for Being Late: An Optimist’s Guide to Thriving in the Age of Accelerations” by Pulitzer Prize winner Thomas L. Friedman., which I not only found fascinating to read but has also helped to shape and change the way I view many of the challenges we are facing both in business but also in our personal lives. The premise of the book is that often he would arrange to meet people for breakfast early in the morning, to do interviews or research stories but occasionally these people would be delayed. These moments, rather than being a source of frustration, became time he actually looked forward to as it allowed him to simply sit and think. And looking at the world, he believed we are living through an age of acceleration due to constant technology evolution, globalisation and climate change. He argues that these combined are the cause for much of the challenges we currently face.
The key point about this acceleration is that it is now reaching a level in which society and people are struggling to adapt. Within the technology world we talk about disruption a lot, a new business or technology arrives that can disrupt a sector or market, the competition struggles to adapt and eventually a status quo is resumed. For example Uber has undoubtedly caused a huge disruption in the world of transport, and governments are currently working through how they can better legislate for this new way of operating. The challenge will be that new legislation can take 5-10 years to agree and implement in which time Uber may well have been replaced by autonomous cars.
So what we are experiencing now is not just disruption but a sense of dislocation, the feeling that no matter how fast we try and change it is never enough. In this environment it will be the people, businesses and societies that are able to learn and adapt the fastest which will be most successful . For business we are constantly shown how being more agile in this digital world can drive efficiency, generate new business models and allow us to succeed but I feel often what is lacking is the guidance on how to get there. We have a wealth of different technology which can support a business but what is right for me? What should I invest in first? And how do I make sure that I maximise the value of that investment?
My experience with many of our customers is that they understand the challenges and also the opportunity, but simply do not have the time to think and plan. When they do have time the amount of choice can be overwhelming and actually daunting. In a small way this is the same challenge I face when looking for new books to read, I can go online but with so much to choose from how will I know what I will enjoy? The opportunity that digital media provides with more authors and contents can actually make finding and choosing something that you think is valuable much harder.
In Logicalis, we understand the business challenges that you face and discuss with you the different technology options that could support you, recommending those that can deliver the biggest value in the shortest time frame. Contact us to find out how we can help you keep up to speed with emerging technology and use it to your benefit.
Digitally Speaking