It’s not often we are inspired by German military chiefs here at Bison Grid, but General von Manstein’s theories on his preferred type of officer really made us stop and think about how IT is used by our clients.
Von Manstein proposed that there were four types of officers:
First, there are the lazy, stupid ones. Leave them alone, they do no harm.
Second, there are the hard-working intelligent ones. They make excellent staff officers, ensuring that every detail is properly considered.
Third, there are the hard-working, stupid ones. These people are a menace, and must be fired at once. They create irrelevant work for everybody.
Finally, there are the intelligent lazy ones. They are suited for the highest office.
We reckon that intelligent lazy IT solutions are well suited to today’s most effective businesses. Why is that?
Well, we are all accustomed to lazy stupid technology, which does no harm. Sometimes it’s stupid simply just because it’s old. Often legacy systems still work and although they might be a bit duff, they do the job.
There is also hardworking intelligent technology that manages the detail perfectly – lots of project management and office products fall into this category. They cover lots of tasks and every eventuality, but actually are fairy labour intensive.
Then there’s hard working, stupid technology – those systems that make you jump through hoops for no apparent reason! Sometimes these systems can be difficult to spot, or organisations hang on to them well past their sell by date because they are nervous of change.
And finally there’s intelligent, lazy technology – business solutions that do very clever things, and yet allow the user to focus on what’s important – their business.
If your business is holding on to legacy systems or needlessly complex IT, then perhaps it’s time to stop and think about Von Manstein’s intelligent lazy officers. An integrated, managed IT solution might just transform the way you work, and allow you a bit more time to be lazy.
(with thanks to wikipedia for use of this image).