#157 / Eating The World #2

I often find the claims of high-tech promoters to be rather hyperbolic and self-satisfied. I get offended by phrases like "Masters of the Universe," when applied to financial and high-tech wizards whose claim to mastery is made out of money. I may be too hung up on my preference for democracy! As an indication of that predisposition, I kind of like the Bernie Sanders' approach to politics (we're going to do it together), as opposed to the "trust me; I'm fighting for you; I am going to make America great again" approach that is so popular with some of the other candidates.

At any rate, my Internet sources recently provided me with a link to an article published in The Ready,  a website that claims to represent "a change federation dedicated to preparing organizations for the 21st century."  The Ready tends to do a lot of cheerleading for our high-tech future. The article to which I am referring was titled, "The Operating Model That Is Eating The World."

The thesis advanced in the article is that modern enterprises must base their activities on five "nested domains." These are, in order: Purpose, Process, People, Product, and Platform. Read the article to find out what this is all about. The argument is interesting and actually helpful, though with that patina of hyperbolic self-satisfaction that I personally find quite off-putting. 

I am commenting here not on the organizational concepts advanced in the article, but on the key phrase used in its title, "eating the world." The article indicates that this phrase relates to the "digitization" of all reality, as reflected in this statement in the article: 

As products and the means to create them have become digitized (often referred to as software eating the world), production capability has grown more accessible and portable.

I have, previously, indicated my profound concern about the idea that computer software is on the way (Oh, Happy Day) to "eating the world." 

It is worth reiterating my point, since the "eating the world" concept (witness this article in The Ready) continues to be presented as something that is positive, and that should be welcomed. It's not a good thing!

As we transform all reality into a digitized, human-created simulacrum of the real thing, we actually lose contact with reality itself. Losing contact with reality is a good shorthand for "insanity." 

We're well on the way, in case you hadn't noticed!

Image Credit: 

https://medium.com/the-ready/the-operating-model-that-is-eating-the-world-d9a3b82a5885#.7lcvoasuo