FITTING THOUGHT
1
Debunking the myths
of Industry 4.0
Walt Disney Studios periodically re-releases classic movies such
as The Lion King to movie theatres every generation in order to
introduce them to young ‘uns. This same savvy marketing strategy
is what lies behind the periodic introduction of buzzwords such as
‘Y2K’, ‘4IR’ and ‘climate change’. These also occur roughly every
generation.
While all these things actually exist, it is the
creation of the buzzword, the meaning of which
goes far beyond the actual societal changes
taking place, and are designed not so much
to create awareness, but to persuade fearful
people to spend lots of money with business
consultants. We’re talking big money here: one
US consultancy has estimated the global spend
on Y2K preparations at up to USD600-billion.
These ‘projects’ are based on fear-mongering. For
anyone too young to recall the Y2K computer bug
– all computers were going to cease functioning
and life as we know it change with the ringing in
of New Year in the new millennium. Suffice to say,
nothing at all occurred.
If you fear the 4th Industry Revolution, all that’s happened
is you’ve become ‘owned’ by marketers, because these
aren’t ‘things’. Gradual technological innovation is clearly
happening – but it has consistently occurred since the
(first, and only) Industrial Revolution in the 18th century.
Yes, automation is coming at an accelerating pace, but
that is what industrialisation has always been about.
Nothing new here, folks, keep moving along.
It’s the same with climate change. You’d have to be a
Flat Earther not to see that the climate is changing – but
anyone with a slight knowledge of history will be well
aware that the climate has always changed. Countries
such as Germany suffered the loss of a quarter of its
population to drought over generations in the 17th century
– and it was not because of over-population, carbon
emissions or cows breaking wind. Many believe we are
just coming out of the last dregs of an Ice Age – what,
after all, are the ice caps? This is all normal. If you’ve
fallen for any buzzword – some marketer ‘owns’ you.
Other buzzwords are the branding of every generation –
as Millennials, Gen X or Y – when research demonstrates
we have far more in common than that which divides us.
Such branding aims only to pigeonhole generations for
marketing purposes.
Richard Mulholland, founder of Missing Link and business
October 2019 Volume 25 I Number 8
author and global speaker, spoke at a conference some
time ago: “Maybe technology isn’t the [disruptive] risk that
we think it will be. I believe that the concept of the 4th
Industrial Revolution is a load of [nonsense] fed to you.
People love hearing buzzword concepts. The first Industrial
Revolution was a real revolution which upended the
traditional life of people (the Second and Third being mass
production followed by computerisation), and the Fourth
now postulates work being taken over by robots. Are we
currently witnessing a change that could be characterised
as a ‘revolution’? Probably not. There’s nothing sudden or
violent about what is happening.
The reality of life is that every time there is an innovation,
that becomes the foundation for someone else to build
on – something else becomes possible. This is what is
happening as an ongoing practice and there is nothing
sudden about it. With Industry 4.0 we’re imagining
there’s some big step change that’s going to come when
in fact change is happening constantly. There’s no step
change or imminent revolution that one has to anticipate:
welcome to the age of Industrial Evolution – because that
is what is happening.
“To people who fear that mankind will all lose their jobs,
my answer is that humans are fundamentally problem-
solving machines and will come up with a solution of a
universal income and will be better off,” says Mulholland.
The most popular topic at any conference is AI, or
automation or machine learning – but that isn’t why the
economy is bad. The economy is bad because the shops
are empty. The threat to your plumbing business is not
some robot, but a competitor that opened next door,
and the way to address that threat still comes down to
the fundamentals of customer service and creating an
amazing customer experience. If anything, technology is
taking us back to a time when relationships were more
important, and we had to focus on the fundamentals. PA
Eamonn
Eamonn Ryan, Editor
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