Anyone who deals with management, as we do in the context of Global Cultures and Global Leaders, cannot avoid new technologies and the associated challenges. Our friend and business partner from San Diego, Daniel Obodovski, has been working on this topic for years and many of his theories and findings, which he presented in his 2013 book on the Internet of Things “The Silent Intelligence”, are now a reality or have already been superseded. We are publishing a few excerpts from one of his articles here. Because this describes what managers will have to deal with in the future! His statements are in italics.
Technical possibilities – development at the “speed of light”
“The technological capabilities of our day are evolving much faster than our understanding of the problems these technologies are supposed to solve. In fact, we are entering a very critical phase right now – solving cross-industry problems with IoT & ML. However, top management must not rely solely on the new technology.”
The initial spark 20 years ago – smartphones and 3G network
“Smartphones have increased global productivity by an average of 34% over the last 10 years. But smartphones have also created completely new business models that were previously impossible. Uber is a popular example here, but employees, drivers, warehouse workers and countless others have also benefited from newly created industrial workflow applications. Nevertheless, if you define the awarding of 3G licenses as the birth of high-speed networks, it took 20 years before we were able to achieve the results we see today.”
The future is ready – and has already overtaken us many times
“IOT infrastructure deployment, networks, sensors and generally connecting the unconnected – also via the significant potential of IOT technologies in various other industries, such as connected cities, healthcare, households or in the automotive sector characterize this development. Driven by the rapidly growing mobile computing ecosystem, many areas are already covered by 4G technology and the cost of sensors and computers has fallen dramatically. Companies are leveraging cloud technology, streaming APIs and machine learning algorithms. The IOT is becoming what it was originally intended to be – a means to an end, a tool to capture, transport and analyze the data of objects: these can be mobile devices, cars, cameras, buildings, fields, hospitals, production facilities and much more. Today, an overwhelming amount of industrial machinery is already connected, generating petabytes of data. In fact, according to last year’s KPCB Internet Trend Report, we are on the verge of doubling the volume of data every two years. This means that companies and governments already have more data at their disposal than they could possibly use today.”
The new challenge for management and leadership
“The technological capabilities are far ahead of our understanding of what problems could be solved with IoT. In fact, this is perhaps the biggest challenge facing modern business – understanding and bridging the gap between technology and reality. While technology companies are busy selling and deploying new sensors, networks, platforms and smart algorithms, most entrepreneurs are trying to figure out how to compete, increase utilization in manufacturing or optimize costs.”
Powerful examples – and this is just the beginning
“A few years ago, local parcel delivery almost hit the wall: at least in the USA, the e-commerce sector was growing at double-digit rates, while parcel delivery growth remained below ten percent. This situation led to capacity bottlenecks and thus to delivery delays and customer frustration. Parcel delivery companies tried to solve the problem by increasing fees – instead of increasing capacity. In its annual report, Amazon again noted that shipping costs for Prime customers were going through the roof. Faced with a mini-crisis and in order to get a grip on the cost problem, Amazon began to build up its own capacity – and networked all delivery vans in an IoT-based management system. The result is well known: Today, Amazon delivers same-day on request – and wants to improve even further. By addressing its own cost and capacity issues, Amazon has been able to create significant added value for its customers.”
Virtually unlimited possibilities
“Some IoT applications that use ML (machine learning), for example, optimize the design of display areas in supermarkets based on the movement and purchasing behavior of customers; or identify inefficiencies and optimization potential in supply chain processes by analyzing freight tracking data; optimize city traffic, control adaptive traffic lights taking into account traffic, weather, road closures or other data sources. ML is increasingly playing a crucial role in the digitalization of business processes and will dramatically change the way we drive innovation – leaving behind those who are too slow to adapt.”
A very German topic – data protection
In my Germany seminars, I have a slide that deals with stereotypes – things that are typically associated with Germany. There are pictures of cars, soccer, beer and garden gnomes – I recently added a symbol for data protection. In China, you can pay with your smartphone at every vegetable market. In Germany, cash is celebrating its heyday. Not without good reason – a smartphone can be hacked. Elsewhere, convenience is paramount! Intercultural aspects obviously also play a major role in technological development.
A key aspect of using the technologies – data protection and security
“However, in all attempts to keep pace with technological possibilities, the focus on security aspects and data protection must never be lost. While security protects data from unauthorized access, data protection prevents unwanted transfer into the wrong hands. Finally, there is the question of data ownership, or rather the related questions: who is authorized to access the data and can use analysis tools to turn this data into business? All other questions can be negotiated between partners, customers and suppliers as long as there is a common value: Privacy and security of data.”
Key factors of the future for Germany and Europe
“In my (editor’s note: D. Obodovski) conversation with Roberto Alvarez, Executive Director of the Global Foundation of Competitiveness Councils, he emphasized that competitiveness is primarily determined by talent/skills and technological innovation. While Europe is a leader in talent and skills overall, it urgently needs to catch up in entrepreneurship and innovation.”
What needs to be done?
“The aim is to fertilize industrial experience with entrepreneurial thinking. The critical eye that analyses existing processes, but views them through the prism of digitalization, sensors, connectivity and machine learning algorithms. Thinking that allows week-long processes to be broken down into hours or minutes. Ultimately, it will be a combination of solution thinking, design thinking and pattern-free thinking, as well as the meaningful linking of these results.”
And the consequences for management?
“It will not be enough to attract the best talent. Top management cannot rely solely on the new technology. It is absolutely crucial that management does not stop asking (even self) critical questions until it understands enough about the performance of new technologies to be able to make the right decisions in the first place. Otherwise, top management runs the risk of being misled by its own PR or marketing department. There is no longer any excuse – for managers and especially at C-level – to excuse a lack of technological education. Because the most important skill is to recognize the one signal amidst the noise.”
Conclusion
Managers are increasingly confronted with new topics that many do not even know exist. On the one hand, it is important to educate oneself further in the technological field. But it is also a question of adequately managing those who are well versed in it. This means
- It is no longer a question of the manager knowing best
- It’s about discovering and guiding those who know their way around
- Traditional management methods are reaching their limits in this new world
- The application of culturally appropriate management styles and, if necessary, changing one’s own attitude become success factors
- This is not just about national cultures, it is also about changing the mentalities of the generations within a culture
Would you like to find out more? You are welcome to contact us and Daniel Obodovski – we know the challenges – and we know how you can successfully face the new challenges described.
The “wisdom” of John Cleese
From an educational film about advertising and management methods from the 1980s, I remember the following words from presenter John Cleese, a member of the legendary comedy troupe Monty Python from England: “Some companies make things happen, some companies watch things happen and some companies wonder what happens.” An “old saying” that is highly topical today! Which category would you like to belong to? You can’t stop time and the future doesn’t wait.
Daniel Obodovski
…is founder and CEO of The Silent Intelligence and
co-author of one of the first IoT reference books, which reached the top 10 on Amazon in 2014
. After holding top positions at
Motorola and Qualcomm, Daniel Obodovski
became increasingly involved in smart city projects and founded SCALE San
Diego (Smart Cities Accelerator, Labs & Environment), among others.
