Do the humdrum properly, it’s the key to success
I was sent an interesting contribution for the Workplace supplement the other day. It was about how new technology has led to the development of a “blended” workplace – one which the routine tasks can be done by robots and computers, freeing up humans to do the creative stuff.
|||I was sent an interesting contribution for the Workplace supplement the other day. It was about how new technology has led to the development of a “blended” workplace – one which the routine tasks can be done by robots and computers, freeing up humans to do the creative stuff.
It’s all in the cause of greater productivity, keeping a step ahead of the competitors, and you can save a fortune through not having to hire as many people any more.
The e-mail arrived on the same day that I had been to Soweto to look at one of the primary school libraries built with funds raised by the Shout SA movement’s latest song download campaign – Smile – and, together, they got me wondering about the role of technology in preparing young human beings for a life on Earth.
I was struck by the irony of money accumulated via an sms payment systems in exchange for an electronic download of a song onto smartphones, being used to build libraries stocked with old-fashioned books – printed on paper, and arranged on shelves, just like when I was a child.
I asked the singer Danny K, one of the founders of the project, about it, and he had an interesting answer: “The world may be going digital, but people are analogue.”
We aren’t electronic, we need to touch, smell and feel things, that’s why they decided to go for books, housed in brick buildings, when they thought investing in education was the best way to tackle the crime problem in the country.
I fully agree, and hope they have great success (their previous campaigns have done very well).
And so to sport. It seems that in an educational world that will inevitably become more digital – the paperless classroom is, the MEC of Education is hoping – already with us, and the next step could be to introduce the blended workplace into schools and have robotics take care of the routine activities in the classroom.
I don’t know if that’s actually possible, but if it does happen it really mustn’t be extended to the sports aspect of the educational process.
Because the role of sport in education is all about old-fashioned values, and success stories always have a very human side to them – inspirational coaches, inspired athletes and real sweat and tears.
Don’t tell me that the implementation of a computerised training and conditioning regime can take the place of a coach with a whistle standing in the gathering gloom, cajoling one last set of exercises out of the team.
And don’t tell me that an educational app on a tablet or smartphone can take the place of a teacher in a classroom who genuinely wants a child to get to grips with a concept he or she is struggling with.
That’s why we need people, not electronics, to drive the educational process, and why we need paper, pens, and books, and human beings to help us with it.
For me, there is no virtue in getting rid of the humdrum and the routine – they hold the key to success. As Muhammad Ali said: “I run on the road long before I dance under the lights.”
It’s doing those humdrum things properly, every time, that makes the difference between success and failure, do away with them and you might be saving money and operating more efficiently, but you won’t be doing your job of preparing analogue human beings to survive in the digital world.
l If you are interested in downloading Shout SA’s Smile and donating R20 towards a library with proper books, sms SMILE to 4038. The song can also be downloaded from iTunes or their website ww.smilesa.com