Category Politics

Processes, automation and human potential (final cut)

Geir Isene 36 Comments

After a solid overhaul, and with added concepts and information, the article “Processes, automation and human potential” is now published and available on Scribd.com. It is also available here.

From the abstract:

The following article attempts to illuminate some important aspects of business and organization, such as:

  • What can and should be automated?
  • When should you trust people rather than processes?
  • What is responsibility and how can you ensure the intended production?

This article tackles the basis for automation, processes and human potential for reaching goals.

For the readers interested in Scientology – this article incidentally explains why perhaps the main policy of Scientology, the “Keeping Scientology Working” spells the demise of the subject itself.

Definition of a “cult”

Geir Isene 72 Comments

“When a method becomes senior to a desired outcome, and when that method gathers a crowd.”

I came to this definition as a result of my latest article on process vs. output. That article has been reworked and is ready for publication. Stay tuned.

Information overflow

Geir Isene 98 Comments

What happens to us as we stand in a storm of information?

The information overflow is steadily increasing. We are bombarded by information from countless channels – newspapers, TV, radio, billboards, Facebook, Twitter, e-mail, sms, Linkedin, Google+, Diaspora, Trello, e-mail lists, forums, face to face conversations, phone, phone apps, blogs…

With such a massive amount of data, how do we cope? How do we sort? How do we sift? What to trust, and what to ditch?

On February 16th, I will be holding the opening speech at the CIO forum in Oslo. And with people like you reading my blog, I would be stupid not to ask for your views.

I am not simply looking for how you think we should handle massive data, but also what it does to an individual, to our society.

Gimme your take on the human aspect of the information overflow.

Update: My post after the talk.

multitasking

Processes, automation and human potential

Geir Isene 31 Comments

I have been working with an article that captures the essence of my recent professional work, during the last year or so. Brendan and I have been consulting several organizations with the aim of helping them achieve better results – be it more revenue or profit, more efficient use of time, customer satisfaction, better cooperation or above all releasing individual initiative, responsibility and creativity.

I release the article here first to invite feedback from the wonderful and smart contributers on this blog. If you read the article and give some valuable input, you may be credited if you want.

The article is here: “Processes, automation and human potential”

A Scientology thought experiment

Geir Isene 1,130 Comments

Here’s one for the readers with at least some familiarity with Scientology. Expanding on my recent blog post on L. Ron Hubbard’s Administrative Technology and adding the whole gamut of Ethics Technology and mental/spiritual Technology:

What would the world be like if Scientology totally won out?

What if there was a World Organizing Board and the whole of our society structure was utterly and completely run by LRH policy and ethics, and where tech ruled the scene?

How would the world at large look like? How would the world function? Countries? Democracy? Religions?

How would our daily lives be? Would family life be different?

What would we do at work? On vacation?

Anything we couldn’t do?

What would be significantly different?

Pitch in and help me paint a realistic picture of a Scientology World.

Cult think

Geir Isene 72 Comments

A group where critical examination of information and thinking for yourself:

  1. is not encouraged
  2. is disregarded
  3. is discouraged
  4. is suppressed
  5. will get you in trouble
  6. is apparently encouraged but actually forbidden

I propose the above as a “Scale of Cult Think“.

There are plenty of groups where free and progressive thinking is the order of the day. But in many groups there is an atmosphere not really conducive to independent thought. A group tends to guard its own purpose and modus operandi. Some groups take this to detrimental levels and whips its members into line with spiritual, mental or even physical means.

There have been many historical examples of groups at level 4 or 5, but I believe a group at level 6 to be the most insidiously dangerous. Rather than listing various groups along this scale, I will encourage the readers of this blog to come up with examples of groups they know and their position on the above scale.

Copyrights and Patents versus The Ant Hill Innovation

Geir Isene 6 Comments

Apple threatens Exxon as the most valuable company on Earth. Nations are faced with an ever increasing debt problem.

I have written about the Ant Hill Innovation earlier. As the world faces increasing economic challenges, it seems the rationale behind patents and copyrights are increasingly questioned.

As Apple is squelching opposition, many start wondering if offering companies monopolies is such a good idea. What would the world have been like if Tim Berners-Lee had patented The Web 20 years ago?

With even The Economist weighing in, the future is hopefully dimmer for those who want to secure their own at the expense of the many:

“…it is next to impossible to offer a new technology or software-driven service without getting sued for patent infringement.”

and

“At a time when our future affluence depends so heavily on innovation, we have drifted toward a patent regime that not only fails to fulfil its justifying function, to incentivise innovation, but actively impedes innovation. We rarely directly confront the effects of this immense waste of resources and brainpower and the attendant retardation of the pace of discovery, but it affect us all the same. It makes us all poorer and helps keep us stuck in the great stagnation.”

It is time to rethink the patent and copyright regimes.

It is succinctly summed up over at TED:

What do you think the world would be like if there were no patents or copyrights?

Back home; In Oslo

Geir Isene 41 Comments

After sailing in Greece since the beginning of July, we arrived back home in Oslo yesterday.

Today we went downtown to see the area struck by the terror attack and most importantly the memorial place covered with more flowers than I have ever seen in my life.

OsLove

Strangely the air was filled with calmness and warmth where one could expect confusion and revenge. Sadness yes, but carried by a foundation of love – for those who lost their lives, for the democracy they championed and for our national integrity. I am proud to be a Norwegian. May this horrific event forge a companionship stronger than ever.

In these days of healing there are of course some elements that we could do without. There are those who seek to score political points, those who will use the events to peddle their ideologies and those who will try to solicit PR in the wake of sorrow. Like the staff in the Church of Scientology in Oslo that I met close to our own Ground Zero. They were there on a recruiting mission via The Way to Happiness Foundation – as if a moral code is what the people of Norway need the most right now. The usual practice for the church is to ensure any such event would be used to bolster their image. Knowing that the church actually works hard to support a power hungry cult leader makes such exploitation of willing staff a disgrace.

In times like these I honor those who give unconditional help, those who give without thought of reward.