Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips

We have tools that multiply our productivity. Every age seems to have such tools. Will we have the sense of urgency to use these tools this time around?

From what I can find, the screwdriver was invented in the late 1400s. It was created to, of course, turn screws. The screws were a new type of fastener. People adopted them to hold pieces of metal together. The primary use was building suits of armor, i.e., weapons of war. These fasteners and the tools to fasten them were adopted by people who wanted to do a better job faster. They had a sense of urgency, i.e., win wars.

Today we have new tools. One set of tools creates what is called a DevSecOps pipeline. This helps software developers produce more faster. Another new set of tools is ChatGPT and all these other chatbots. They help people write hundreds of words in less than a minute.

Wow! A leap in productivity much like the screw and the screwdriver.

But… this time around, most people aren’t using these new tools. And some folks who claim to use them are just piddling around and boasting about something they really don’t do. A sense of urgency is missing.

In some respects, we are in a full-employment economy. There are plenty of unemployed people, but more unfilled jobs than unemployed people. The unemployed have little sense of urgency to take an open job.

So, here we are—little urgency to take an open job and little urgency to be more productive when in a job. We are an odd lot. If history predicts the future, there will come a time when a group of persons has a sense of urgency and leaps ahead. The rest will sort of follow in their own time at their own pace.