Latest news with #obsolescence
Forbes
2 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
Why Are Millions Of Managers Becoming Obsolete? Here Are 21 Reasons
In response to several articles here and here suggesting that millions of managers are becoming obsolete, I have been asked to clarify. What is the evidence? These managers are mostly highly educated, successful for many years, very well-paid, and often held in high esteem by their respective businesses. So what exactly is the problem? A Problem Within A Bigger Problem That question in fact is a key to understanding the issue: the obsolescence of managers has less to do with the personal characteristics of individuals acting as managers and more to do with the obsolete state of the organizations they work for. One useful insight in dealing with complex multi-dimensional problems is to take note of the insight--sometimes wrongly attributed to Albert Einstein--is to rethink fundamentals. 'If you have an hour to solve a problem, spend the first 55 minutes defining the problem and the last five minutes solving it." The Interconnections Of The Issues Dealing with any one aspect of the obsolescence of managers is likely to obscure the scale and interconnections with many other issues. All of the issues by themselves are well-known and have been discussed one-by-one many times in articles and journals. What is less common, indeed almost unprecedented, is to review all the many ways in which businesses and their managers are becoming obsolete. When we review the whole array of issues together, we can a better sense of the multi-dimensional nature of the problem. In this way, we can better understand why any individual issue is so hard to resolve. The Interconnected Causes Of Managerial Obsolescence To summarize, the principal interconnected reasons why firms and their managers are becoming obsolete are: Good News: Many Firms Have Now Evolved While resolving all these issues amounts to a new kind of organization and vast societal change, the good news is that we now have many examples of change actually having happened As shown below, many public firms are well along the way, although they are still only ~20% of all public firms. (None of the firms is perfect: all exhibit some aspects of traditional management.) Value-creating enterprises emerged from the combination of two elements: first, entrepreneurs began using digital technology and AI to deliver exponentially more value than traditionally-managed firms; and second, digital technology gave customers the power to demand more value from businesses. The killer insight: value-creating enterprises not only satisfy customers: they make much more money than firms focused on making money. Workplaces devoted to creating value for customers are also likely to be more congenial as workplaces than those focused on extracting value from customers and boosting executive bonuses. And read also: Millions Of Managers Are Becoming Obsolete—By Solving The Wrong Problem Why Millions Of Managers Are Becoming Obsolete—It's Not Rocket Science—Or AI
Yahoo
14-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Older Adults Are Sharing The Common But Unique "Back In The Day" Experiences That Have Younger People 100% Confused
Recently, older adults of the BuzzFeed Community shared the common but unique experiences from "back in the day" that are now practically obsolete, and as a Gen Z'er, I'm completely fascinated. Here are some once-common practices from the past that, depending on your age, will have you either feeling super nostalgic or incredibly perplexed: 1."Not having disposable diapers. Cloth diapers were delivered by a diaper service, and they were washed and reused." —Anonymous 2."In the '50s, a man selling vegetables would drive his truck slowly through the neighborhood, calling out, 'Vegetables!' People would run out of their houses to see what he had, and he'd stop so they could buy." —fancychinchilla3143 3."Cigarettes were in a vending machine, and kids would be sent to the store to buy them for our parents. Also, if you had a penny, you could buy a piece of candy!" —Anonymous 4."We freely walked on and off campus at our own school and other schools. There were no fences to keep kids inside or other people out. Former students would visit and chat with the principal, and students would walk home during lunch and come back. It wasn't a big deal back then." —Nita, 64, California 5."In the 1960s, cars didn't have seatbelts. My mom would take loads of neighborhood kids to the beach, and we'd all just hang out in the 'Way Back' (station wagon), talking, laughing, and sliding around." —Anonymous 6."I live in Kentucky. When we were kids, what we called 'spray planes' used to fly over us, releasing insecticide to kill all the mosquitoes. We'd run outside and wave at the man in the plane, all while the insecticide came raining down." —Anonymous 7."Girls could not wear slacks to school during the '40s through '60s — dresses or skirts only. We had to kneel to prove our skirts touched the floor, and if they didn't, we were sent home to change clothes. Boys had to wear belts and have their shirts buttoned, except the very top button. Boys could wear jeans, but nothing ragged or torn." —smartwitch66 8."When I lived in Wisconsin in the late '60s and early '70s, the fire department would open the hydrants down the streets on hot and humid days to let the kids cool off. Good times!" —Lisa, 65, Arizona 9."Before photocopy machines, they used a device called a mimeograph in schools. A stencil was attached to the drum of the machine, and when the handle was turned, it would spit out a mirror image sheet of paper. The process used an alcohol-based ink. Many times, the teacher would walk out of the office, be gone for 10 minutes, then come back with freshly printed papers. The smell of that fresh ink was heavenly; half the class would huff their paper as it was handed to them. Then Xerox came along and spoiled it all." —Kerry, 60 10."In some places where I've lived, pregnant teenagers weren't allowed to attend regular schools because they were thought to be bad influences." —joyfulbunny94 11."In the '60s, my mom would have to ask the grocery store lady cashier for a Kotex belt, which was kept hidden under the conveyor cabinet." —chillsinger56 12."When the new car models came out, it was common to go window-shopping at the dealerships. Even though the salesperson knew you were too young to purchase a car, they'd still let you look around and take brochures home." —Anonymous 13."Making long-distance phone calls used to cost you by the minute." —Anonymous 14."Up until the '80s and before cable was available, there was nothing broadcast on TV late at night. At 1 a.m., after late-night shows ended, the stations played an instrumental of 'God Bless America' with a video of a waving flag. Then, white fuzz would appear on the screen for several hours until the morning shows came on the following day." —nastyzebra998 15."The number of people who'd smoke in hospitals. It was common in the '70s to see that smoking was allowed in the emergency department waiting area, the hospital cafeteria, and even in the patient rooms!" —Anonymous 16."Back in the late '60s, we wouldn't wear any shoes during the summer months. We'd walk around barefoot, even in San Francisco! No one even batted an eye." —Carol, 67 "Littering. In the '50s and '60s, eating in the car was a regular thing. Our dad taught us to throw our food wrappers out the window to 'keep the car tidy.' Now, if you litter, it's a pretty hefty fine." —Anonymous, 70 If you're an older adult, what are some everyday experiences from "back in the day" that are now obsolete? If you want a chance to be featured in an upcoming BuzzFeed Community post, let us know in the comments, or you can anonymously submit your story using the form below! Note: Some submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.
