Communication for the Future

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Information is a commodity and time is the new currency. If you find yourself agreeing with that observation, then you may be on the way to doing a better job managing for the future, according to the principles set out Daniel Burrus, who specializes in understanding the future.

Burrus told members of The Maintenance Council that, unlike what they may have believed, the future is not indecipherable. Rather, it is often easy to see, but most of the time we’re too involved with a crisis at hand to take the time to develop a vision.

“Take your biggest problem, and either skip it or spend less time thinking about it. We take too long to address our problems,” he said.

In an industry where technology has altered so many elements, Burrus’s urgings struck a receptive chord among the managers continually pressured to control costs and plan for the future with limited resources. But technology is not magic, he warned — it doesn’t add more hours to the day. Its role is to enable users to leverage the time they have by providing more ways to accomplish the goal. Using technology in creative ways presents unforeseen advantages.

Burrus recounted a visit to a repair shop. After looking at the maintenance process, he suggested to the shop manager that he consider giving customers pagers so they could leave and do something better with their time than waiting around for the repair.

Trucking may be an industry that considers data to be vital, but Burrus suggested that an emphasis on information could be emphasis on the wrong thing.

“You should be entering the communication age. Communication is dynamic, information is passive. Computers and communications are converging, and you should want a communication tool, not an information tool.”

For the full story, see the March 22 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.