Do-Learn-Do: Working in Clay vs. Stone

Whether it is Play-Doh at the kitchen table or clay on a potter’s wheel, we’ve all at some point in our life worked with some form of these malleable solids. These materials are easily molded, and often the end product is something far different than it set out be.

On the other hand, few of us have had the experience of chiseling away at stone. Unlike clay, stone requires a much more significant upfront investment and can take multiple years to reach an end result – Michelangelo dedicated two years to carve David out of white marble. Stone is not only expensive and time consuming, but you’re stuck with the end result; altering it involves starting again from scratch.

Traditional retail software is much like stone – expensive, time-consuming and unchangeable. Retailers often spend months deciding what they need and identifying a software provider before the software is built and implemented, which can take an additional 12-18 months. Two years or more (and millions of dollars) later, when the software is finally ready to use, it’s already outdated. It’s little wonder that the cost of failed IT implementations is so shockingly high; several years ago, ZDNet estimated the cost at $3 trillion annually worldwide.

Change is underway, though......read the rest here