One of the challenges posed by technological disruption is that the risk of false alarms. The logic is that not every gizmo or doodad can really be so groundbreaking. This is further reinforced if you have been exposed to technological novelties that are simply being developed for the sake of technology rather than for any truly meaningful benefit or change.
Fortunately, if you can already spot a novelty, then you are well on your way to developing a talent for uncovering real technologies that actually promise powerful changes for your supply chain. The problem is that most people tend to go the other way and simply start using the novelties as an excuse to ignore real game changers.
We’ve all heard of the movie stars who turned down the famous scripts and could have been ‘mega’ stars had they chosen better. Well this is going to be the same! Which businesses got it right? Now’s the time to make sure it’s yours!
Behaviours like adopting novelties because they are there and potentially missing the real game changers, feed a corporate culture that is in danger of ignoring solid innovation while favouring outdated processes and tools. Instead of validation for skepticism, we all need to be developing a talent for recognizing technology’s potential 24/7!
Take drone technology, for example. It’s more than just for bird’s eye videos and prenuptial presentations. They are now being actively used by farmers to check on their cattle, Walmart has a patent pending for use of drones as flying scarecrows and pesticide deliveries as opposed to crop dusters, they are being used to help scan mines and mining locations, as well as providing additional details for surveyors. And if companies as prominent as Walmart and Amazon have taken serious interest in their application for their warehouses, with the first drone warehouse under construction where drones will do the picking from shelves which reach the top of a warehouse previously inaccessible by humans even with forklifts, as well as for better deliveries in the looming US Amazon v Walmart Online Shopping delivery war,(another patent pending), then so should you.
All you have to do is develop your talent for uncovering a real tech disruption opportunity.
Tip #1: Look at the location/context.
Most people see a new piece of tech and they simply remain focused on it instead of how it operates and what it could potentially do in their environment.
Many tech nerds develop the technology for a narrow application with no awareness of where you might be able to use it which would mean a very significant and major impact.
Robots are a famous example of this bias. We often see robots in terms of how they move or what makes them up instead of what they are being used for. Consider the Japanese department store that uses their robots to guide shoppers to the right department and when not doing that, it does stocktakes and inventory audits. Are you using a multi-use robot to do your audits?
Once you make the mental transition from technology to environment, however, the bigger picture starts to form itself. Robot arms mean more ability for robots to support quadriplegics with their daily activities, but also provide more ability for robots to undertake high level technical repairs and maintenance in space on spacecraft. This is of course in addition to the usual use of robots in factories meaning greater productivity as well as improved pin-point accuracy in busy operating theatres.
Understanding the technology is important but that should ultimately lead you further to applications in an appropriate environment, the one you know. What are your pain points and could technology that you already know about help you address this?
Tip #2: Expand the context.
Let’s go back to the idea of drones. Suppose a company manages to create autonomous drones that can actually harvest data and capture images of their surroundings for an extensive period of time. These even come with their own, fully automated docking station for maintenance.
Already, you can see that the context shapes itself out but is that all there is? Of course not. It actually begs the question, “What other ways can this benefit me?” In the case of the drone, the range of applications can extend further to monitoring the integrity of facilities. Security personnel can have another pair of eyes to patrol areas along with their current CCTV potentially inaccessible by their CCTV, such as over water. Self-operating drones can even assist in the transport of components from one part of a factory to another. And drones can be used to actually deliver the groceries to homes within a close radius of the warehouse where they are being picked and packed, by drones. The drone can even send a photograph of a customers delivery to the customer before the order actually arrives. This is so that customers know their products are fresh, packed well and not damaged or spoiled.
It’s time to stop treating these possibilities as speculative science-fiction, because they are now or are about to be actual business reality.
What was that idea that you had a while ago about how improved technology could assist you in your supply chain? What did you do with it? Maybe time to get it out, dust it off and give it a rethink? What do you say?
Tip #3: Informed imagination.
If you don’t like being labelled a futurist, then you need to have all the facts on the table for properly evaluating the feasibility of new technologies. The mental hiccup, however, has always been the assumption that the technology hasn’t been invented yet or is new therefor let someone else deal with the bugs. We’ll wait until it works perfectly.
This would’ve been fine, say, ten years ago when A.I., the Internet of Things and smartphone technology were deemed impossible. Yet apparently, it’s quite possible because that’s where we are right now!
Does this mean we should just take all the glowing predictions of futurist bloggers? Not exactly. It does, however, mean that we have to stay more informed and let that information mold our imaginations on what technological disruption could entail. Put more effort into research, ask tough questions about feasibility but also be willing to put an innovation to work once it’s been proven! Let’s not hesitate simply because we wish to be right about impossibility instead of wrong.
This is such an exciting time. Where are your trials, brainstorming, prototypes and new solutions being worked on. Are you self-disrupting? Where is this occurring? What’s happening to the seeds of ideas that you are getting? Where and how are they being nurtured and developed? Some will fail. But that’s ok we need to be learning and failing is learning. What will we do differently next time?
To summarize, having a talent for Uncovering Real Tech disruptive opportunities is extremely valuable? Do you or someone you work with in your organisation have this talent? If so, you must start putting this skill to use. Be informed, carefully take in what you and your organisation are learning. Avoid rejecting out of a knee-jerk reaction or disillusionment. A game-changing wave of innovation is on the horizon and you don’t want to be the rising star that rejected the ‘mega’ star making movie do you?
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