History lessons and the technological maturity of your company

You might think that due to your high investment in IT you have a very advanced operation, well think twice. The business environment has been managed on static case scenarios, historical maturity has involved support by practices in a changing world, which create a judge distance between what is done and what had worked during history. These are the know-know.

Let's start by email, writing was the first technology used in all kinds of operations in history, from selling goods to sending messages between regions at war, and it is probable it was more appreciated as a competitive advantage as it is now the companies. Many modern employees and executives lack the skills to write a successful email to conquer the business arena. Well, train messengers travel thousands of miles, on feet or by horse, to deliver key facts about campaigns and government relations. So next time you look at your state of an art email system, remember that ancient civilizations used to do it better.

And now that we are talking about writing, let's get into the planning, strategy, supply chain, logistics and business case arena, mapping combined with written strategics planning was one the first technologies used by governments, politics, philosophers, and generals in the ancient world. These were truly appreciated tools that preserve knowledge and expand power/nations. It is worthily to add in a job application if you have read and understood the reason for mapping, the Classics, and the importance of planning from the point of view of ancient Romans, Macedonians, or Napoleon before requesting a Master's degree or an MBA. In this regard, there are few supply-chains, logistics, and transportation professionals that know that their logistics systems are no better than the Romans, the Portuguese, or the first British Empire.

What about cybersecurity and perimetric technology, at present companies assign millions of dollars to change management security policies to make a regular employee, executive or client understand that threats are real and loose are skyrocketing into the billions of dollars. Well, all ancient cultures used to understand that field warfare (at present cybersecurity), fortress warfare, and technology foundations that support it were crucial for the survival of the common citizen, so probably the best way to make people realize that they are not complying with security standards it is letting them know that we are talking about ancient Sumerian or Egyptian standards, and by supporting fortification they are making them better for themselves.

Let's get into Dash Boards and command & control, what Anibal, Alexander, or Cesar would expect two thousand years for their era regarding technology, well, what we have now is a committee selecting a group of experts, guided by project management or a Scrum Master for the creation of proposal that will enable a decision to manufacture a prototype. The above scenario could be very dangerous in terms of timing and patience from an ancient leader.

What about opening new markets by enabling the internet and eCommerce? Let's get real, we are just accessing the same markets at a different speed. Opening a new market is what centuries ago Portuguese ships did in Asia, Spain in America, European countries in Africa, and East Indian companies did around the globe did. A new market is access with more than a modem and a computer, it requires venture capital, investors, and economic structure, sea/war-fare technology, and a lot of courage.

Just take into consideration the present business case where we have a war in Ukraine creating an unstable business environment worldwide and making an instant impact on the maturity of all businesses around the world. Going back to history and the classics might be the best business solution to confront or have a better outcome from this situation. Expecting regular best practices from models that had never been tested in a war environment would be like making a brain operation with an internet tutorial. So, in this situation is it Ok to lack minimum business maturity of policies and standards? Well, if we consider that in the history of business during the war, ?those policies and standards might require the investment and waste, and due to the war situation potential practices that might not be legal in some jurisdictions, we might consider applying regular practices does don′t worth the risk, especially if take in consideration that you might not get the desire results due to the ever-changing scenarios of war, but remember that we are talking here about business, so it must worth the risk. I would say that the best way to go is to do what has worked in the past.

One of the most realistic outcomes from the Ukraine war could be the fortifications of cities and businesses with new technology to make their ecosystems self-reliable against invasions, nuclear war, and many other technological treats that will be considered more seriously.

To be at the starting point, we need to do better by applying the obvious and realizing that what we are doing is not rocket science by historical human standards, in that very second, we will be able to define the realistic maturity of our business operation, that should fit the present era, and attach to regular historical standards or in other words, in a systemic way.

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