Eli Goldratt famously said, ‘Tell me how you measure me, and I will tell you how I will behave. If you measure me in an illogical way… do not complain about illogical behaviour.’ If you measure and reward activity, then activity’s what you’ll get.
As the internet was to the printing press, Artificial Intelligence is to the internet—a game-changer. Combining ubiquitous distributed computing with the hitherto unimaginable power of machine learning, the tiniest packet of work transforms into a building block for a giant leap in productivity.
Integrated work management and systems thinking are two sides of the same coin. Since constraints govern the rate at which systems deliver value, the imperative, if maximising value is your goal, is to know the whole – that is, the system – but focus on the constraint.
As supply chains rupture and decarbonisation becomes imperative, companies in vital industries are feeling squeezed and falling behind. To succeed, they must move quickly from a traditional to an integrated approach to managing work, then beyond to ‘quantum work management’.
‘Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming human society in fundamental and profound ways. Not since the Age of Reason have we changed how we approach security, economics, order and even knowledge itself.’ So states the inside front cover of The Age of AI And Our Human Future.
Many executives expect: ‘I set the course, you manage the project, they deliver the work.’ But reality feels more like: ‘I expect results, you promise me a deadline, they’re late again.’ How do different subcultures understand each other?