“The vast majority of human beings dislike and even actually dread all notions with which they are not familiar… Hence it comes about that at their first appearance innovators have generally been persecuted, and always derided as fools and madmen.”― Aldous Huxley
In 1876 a young inventor in his late twenties approached a leading communications company in that era -Western Union- and offered them the opportunity to purchase the patents to his invention for $100,000 (equivalent to about $2 million today). Alexander Graham Bell had just invented the telephone and was offering the invention to Western Union at a ridiculously cheap price. Western Union declined to purchase the innovation and the Western Union President’s words were, “What use could this company make of an electrical toy”.
Alexandra Bell and his partners launched the first telephone in 1878. It then provided communication for individuals within a couple of miles of each other. It was perfectly suited to short distance communication, a service that did not compete with Western Union -whose niche market was long distance communication via the telegram. Over a period of time the Bell company would improve on its technology and by 1910 purchased a controlling interest in Western Union – the same company whose president called Graham Bell’s invention an electrical toy.
“In a world of change, the learners shall inherit the earth, while the learned shall find themselves perfectly suited for a world that no longer exists.” ― Eric Hoffer
It’s no news (given recent events) that the world has entered the fourth industrial revolution (IR): an age where data and machines rule the world and devices are connected to (and interact with) one another. The first Industrial Revolution began in Britain (1784) with the era of the steam engine, followed by the age of mass production and electricity – the second Industrial Revolution (1870)- and then the era of computers ushering in IR 3.0 in 1969. Common occurrences during each of the past three revolutions include:
- they ushered in an era of increased productivity and new opportunities for wealth creation;
- they impacted the way people lived, worked and related;
- for many people the change was tragic as a lot of occupations/jobs were eliminated;
- almost all industries were affected by the changes with some industries collapsing and new industries created in the process;
- new problems were spawned – especially environmental, climate and social -problems.
I believe that the fourth industrial revolution will manifest a lot (if not all) of the aforementioned themes. Although still in its infancy (my personal opinion), it’s interesting that most organizations and individuals are not actively preparing for the maturity of this era.
In order not to miss the opportunities presented by the 4th IR, it’s important to:
- be willing to play an active role in retraining ourselves and our organizations by embracing continuous learning as a necessity for survival (and development of new skills, competencies, strategic frameworks);
- be wary of the “false” comfort posed by the gains and benefits of an organization’s current state;
- courageously embrace cross-industry partnerships and knowledge sharing (especially with industries that are farther advanced in Analytics and AI maturity);
- implement pilot analytics and AI experiments, in order to prove their benefits (and build momentum).
Western Union failed to quickly seize the opportunity presented by Graham’s invention and paid a price for it. Individuals and/or organizations who fail to see the opportunities presented by the new era may pay a heavier price – that of a living extinct.
The biggest risk is not taking any risk – Mark Zuckerberg
Patrick