My brother won a golden ticket a few years ago and gave it to our family to visit the Nestle chocolate factory. That’s where I met Ruth & Charlotte (not their real names), working the end of the line for one type of chocolate bar. The final machine would pass them each a few dozen bars and they’d quickly grab a dozen, stuff a box, fold, wrap then another dozen, same thing, over and over.
I asked the manager, next to our oompaloopa (yes, we had short-statued, non-talking actors taking us around that day…felt strange) about why some lines had machines and others had people. “Costs” he said. They were saving up to buy the machines to replace the people at the end of the lines but hadn’t saved enough to replace Ruth & Charlotte yet.
Upon thinking about this, I could see the sentimentality of two lovely people working together for years, having had a stable job that didn’t require much of them but also wondered where they would have gone in their lives if the machines had been built sooner. Would they be doing more fulfilling work?
This all brings me back to my work as a business process consultant, finding myself replacing mindless, relatively expensive jobs with software & processes. Is it wrong that I’m reducing mindless jobs and replacing them with jobs where people’s real skills, personality and talents are amplified? In the end I’m continuing a tradition of replacing switchboard operators, cart drivers, water carriers, home milk deliverers and toilet bucket collectors with a type of technology that carries the mindless load and opens new avenues for higher-skilled work.
In some ways change is always hard and work is more than increasing production by an extra unit per unit of human output. Ruth & Charlotte are beautiful people adding value to the world and I hope their next step is one more step up in terms of creativity and skill.
📚 ContentsBuild ItBoost ItBroadcast it Build It In this stage we develop the core of your online platform: A professional website for your real estate agency business A professional profile on relevant social networks Core outlets for spreading engaging content Optional customised CRM to suit your business Optional email help desk to boost customer satisfaction …
If you’re using ConvertKit for your email marketing, here’s a quick tip that might help you make some money on the side. If you’re embedding a signup form on your website, you’ll copy/paste the code and you’ll see: You can remove the default “Powered By” text but a better idea would be to jump …
Further details of question I’m thinking of creating a Microsoft Access Data Base to record site records for field inspections. Is this the best option? Each Field Site item with have: Location description Location details Provide for linking to site maps Allow for 100 sites Each site item will have: A drop down Description A …
Question: I’ve got an existing WordPress website, hosted through BlueHost and would like to connect my new Thinkific online course website to my WordPress website. What’s the best way? Answer: There are a few levels of integration depending on the customer experience you want your clients to have when reviewing and buying your Thinkific …
The day a machine replaced Ruth & Charlotte
My brother won a golden ticket a few years ago and gave it to our family to visit the Nestle chocolate factory. That’s where I met Ruth & Charlotte (not their real names), working the end of the line for one type of chocolate bar. The final machine would pass them each a few dozen bars and they’d quickly grab a dozen, stuff a box, fold, wrap then another dozen, same thing, over and over.
I asked the manager, next to our oompaloopa (yes, we had short-statued, non-talking actors taking us around that day…felt strange) about why some lines had machines and others had people. “Costs” he said. They were saving up to buy the machines to replace the people at the end of the lines but hadn’t saved enough to replace Ruth & Charlotte yet.
Upon thinking about this, I could see the sentimentality of two lovely people working together for years, having had a stable job that didn’t require much of them but also wondered where they would have gone in their lives if the machines had been built sooner. Would they be doing more fulfilling work?
This all brings me back to my work as a business process consultant, finding myself replacing mindless, relatively expensive jobs with software & processes. Is it wrong that I’m reducing mindless jobs and replacing them with jobs where people’s real skills, personality and talents are amplified? In the end I’m continuing a tradition of replacing switchboard operators, cart drivers, water carriers, home milk deliverers and toilet bucket collectors with a type of technology that carries the mindless load and opens new avenues for higher-skilled work.
In some ways change is always hard and work is more than increasing production by an extra unit per unit of human output. Ruth & Charlotte are beautiful people adding value to the world and I hope their next step is one more step up in terms of creativity and skill.
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📚 ContentsBuild ItBoost ItBroadcast it Build It In this stage we develop the core of your online platform: A professional website for your real estate agency business A professional profile on relevant social networks Core outlets for spreading engaging content Optional customised CRM to suit your business Optional email help desk to boost customer satisfaction …
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If you’re using ConvertKit for your email marketing, here’s a quick tip that might help you make some money on the side. If you’re embedding a signup form on your website, you’ll copy/paste the code and you’ll see: You can remove the default “Powered By” text but a better idea would be to jump …
I need a database created for field inspections
Further details of question I’m thinking of creating a Microsoft Access Data Base to record site records for field inspections. Is this the best option? Each Field Site item with have: Location description Location details Provide for linking to site maps Allow for 100 sites Each site item will have: A drop down Description A …
Thinkific integrated in WordPress
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