James Drogan

One of my MIS in Transportation students has opined:

'Today we pay a lot more for i.e. a car that is handmade,  tomorrow we will may pay a lot more for a thought that is "human-made". '

Powerful, provocative stuff, this.

Years ago, when at IBM, I was involved with the Research Division on a project to digitize speech for the purposes of recognition of patterns.  As I recall, one of the factoids of the time was that only five percent of the information in the world was digitized, that much, if not all of the remainder was verbal.  In History, Digitized (and Abridged), Katie Hafner of the Times makes a strong case that the conversion to digital is, in reality, proceeding at a snail's pace; that much of the information in the world is likely never to  be digitized.

I'm perhaps naive on this issue, but Hafner's article gave me something to think about regarding the perceived power of the zeros and ones.

The second article in this section to which I draw attention is Denise Caruso's Knowledge is Power Only if You Know How to Use It.  Caruso reminds me of the importance of know-how.   Know-how (if it's robust it's called "go" according to  Sarewitz and Nelson, researchers  in the area) is what we should be instilling in our students.  I wonder, sometimes, whether they want the know-how or the easier-to-obtain knowledge that is more-or-less certified by a grade and a degree.

“Next fall when you see geese heading south for the winter flying along in a "V" formation, you might be interested in knowing what science has discovered about why they fly that way. It has been learned that as each bird flaps its wings, it creates an uplift for the bird immediately following. By flying in a "V" formation, the whole flock adds at least 71% greater flying range than if each bird flew on its own.

People who share common direction and sense of community can get where they are going quicker and easier, because they are traveling on the thrust of one another.

When a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the draft and resistance of trying to go it alone, and quickly gets into formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird immediately in front.

If we have as much sense as a goose, we will stay in formation with those who are headed the same way we are going.

When the lead goose gets tired, he rotates back in the wing and another goose flies point.

It pays to take turn doing hard jobs.

The geese honk from behind to encourage those up front to keep up their speed.

An encouraging word goes a long way.

Finally, when a goose gets sick, or is wounded by a gun shot and falls out, two geese fall out of formation and follow him until he is either able to fly or until he is dead, then they launch out on their own or with another formation to catch up with the group.

If we have the sense of a goose, we will stand by each other like that. “

From The Porthole, the Student Programs E-Newsletter at SUNY Maritime, March 6, 2007 

A page containing the lecture notes for my Spring 2007 graduate class in Transportation Management has been established.

One of my students posted the following in an online discussion.  I urge you to have a look and think about the possible implications.

"I was sent this video from my friends mom who is an elementary school teacher. Basically the video is a did you know... and it evaluates what is coming in our near future. There is evidence and prediction that in our lifetime computers will be able to supersede the human brain, and eventually be able to supersede the human race. It is predicted that technology will change every 72 hours within the next 10-20 years. Although a little off topic i believe this information is vital to MIS and the global shipping business. How will businesses strategise an MIS system that could be outdated in less than a year or possibly less than a month? I suggest everybody looks at this video its a windows media document.

 http://www.scottmcleod.org/didyouknow.wmv"
 

Re Conversations with Dave

I use the Context of Interest in all my courses to remind not just my students, but also me, the importance of knowing one’s position in time and the forces that affect one’s trajectory.

My sense is that the socio-political-economic forces, particularly the political, are dominating the discussions of world trade. I think it is legitimate to call into question whether this set of forces is particularly well-informed about the world and economics, on the one hand, and whether the forces (let me make clear that by this I mean political decision makers) have anything other than self-interest in mind. That is, for all the majestic words regarding global trade, a rising tide lifts all boats, and world peace through world trade, their position and the maintenance of that position depends upon their constituencies either reelected them or not, or in some more violent manner, overthrowing them.

This is to be compared to the pronouncements of the tenured academicians who are unlikely to be fired, thrown out of office, or stood up in front of a firing squad.

No one has a global constituency. The reality is that zero-sum games abound and that it is easier to do bi-lateral agreements. This, of course, takes us back to our discussion of parity.

Reward systems are dissimilar, conflict is easier the collaboration. And, when backed into a corner, any beast, however small, will snarl.

Now this is not just a cry of despair. Rather, "If stated reasons don't sit well with your conscience or stand the test of logic, look for deeper motivations." The line is attributed to Docent Glax Othn in Dune: The Butlerian Jihad.

This notion of understanding the motivations also links back to some of our previous discussions. Let me advance the hypothesis that the global psyche is not what it once was and is not well understood. For example, America cannot come to grips with the wanton, indiscriminate killing in the Middle East. Those perpetrating these actions do not understand, or care, about America’s failure to come to grips with their actions.

The enormous advance in global connectivity has not been accompanied by an enormous advance in global understanding, particularly amongst the rank and file. It would be interesting, I think, to consider the question of whether the politicos really desire the rank and file to understand.

Anyway, where does that leave us in the complex white water of world affairs? Perhaps Spaceship Earth is in need of a 12-step program.

I was wrapping up my more-or-less daily scan of the blogroll when TPMCafe - America Abroad feed brought  to my attention the item Winning Smart Power.  This them took me to Smart Power Blog from whence comes the following picture.

I've been discussing visualization and pattern recognition with my friends at the Bernard L. Schwartz Communication Institute.  The picture is another example of the power of visualization and its potential impact on communications. 

This visualization very quickly tells you the number and location of visitors to the blog.  How does that match expectations?  Are there any surprises in the visualization?  What are the possible explanations for these surprises?  Do these explanations suggest strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, or threats that need to be investigated further.  

From the del.icio.us hotlist comes a link to The Death of Computing, a perspective by Neil McBride.  Much of what McBride discusses squares with my some 40 years of experience in the field of computing. 

His approach to teaching the subject also aligns with mine.  The perspective I take is that of senior management dealing with the issue of management information system investment decisions.  The syllabi for my courses can be found in What I Am Teaching.

McBride and I are, I think, on the same page.  That is, what those who hire our students want is different from what we have traditionally turned out.  This means that we need to understand our customers and do more to meet their needs.  Higher education is no less susceptible to market forces than other discipline and tenure is no defense.

Also see Bizz School Re-Thinking 6/19/5.

One of the critical skills and habit to develop is that of keeping current on developments in the world.  Podcasts are a great way to do this.

I want to call your attention to the podcasts from the recent meeting of the World Economic Forum.  In particular that dealing with the The Global Economy.  It's worth a listen for anyone involved in global developments.

Networking is an essential skill.  A great case study of the how and why of networking can be found in Auletta, Ken. "The Fixer." The New Yorker,  February 12, 2007:  p. 46.

This article is not online at the New Yorker.  You'll need to get a copy of the magazine.

When you finish reading, ask yourself why the article is not online.