Tuesday 20 December 2011

GNSS applications need mobile broadband access

This problem is not solved yet. Location Based Services and GNSS applications in general do not only need position determination. They also need data communication. The volume of these data can be huge, if we consider detailed maps. And we all assume that there will be mobile phone operators that will deliver us these data quickly for a reasonable price.

In my opinion, in the year 2012, this is not the case yet. I am a smartphone user myself, and in my experience the data speed rarely exceeds the speed of an old dial-in phone line. The cost is excessive and even unbearable abroad. In practice, I only switch on my data communication when I can freely use a Wifi network or when I desperately need a mobile data link. Mobile phone operators talk about 4th generation LTE and we don't even have decent UMTS yet. What has happened in the last 10 years? Let us say it is the economy. I refer to my previous blogs on satellite navigation and communication and Internet access as a utility.

Sunday 11 December 2011

Durban

In many countries the climate conference in Durban didn't make it in the press as main news topic. Most countries had other concerns: financial crisis, credit ratings, membership of the Euro, etc. Our country focused on the government formation.

No matter what issues you had in your country, elections, failed or succeeded government agreements, all these issues are totally irrelevant compared to the issue at stake in Durban. It seems like mankind is unable to stop carbon emission, which may lead to an average temperature increase larger than 2 degrees. We simply don't know to which uncontrollable chain reactions this may lead. We are not capable of respecting the principle of precaution and the sense of urgency seems totally absent with our world leaders.

We tend to judge ancient times because they believed in witchcraft or because they oppressed the former colonies. But the judgement of our grandchildren and great-grandchildren about our era will be equally devastating. They will never understand our narrow-sightedness and our disrespect for the planet.

Tuesday 1 November 2011

Ode to curiosity

Curiosity is a virtue. Perhaps not an officially registered one. And yet it is another one of these hidden virtues that need a little realignment in our lives (like generosity).

Of course as with all virtues, excessive amounts are not very productive and lead to the opposite of what they aim at. But in this age where information overflow has become normal, we are all tempted to filter out what confirms our opinion and to avoid anything that may change it. Curiosity may be the best virtue in this information era and the best katalyser for open mindedness. Moreover, the abundance of information has made the access to meaningful information (knowledge) just as cumbersome as in the old times when we always experienced a lack of information.

In school education, during centuries, politeness, diligence and commitment have been the main values. The last four decades, critical mindedness has become a new key value. The next key value in 21st century education will be curiosity. The most talented youngsters are often the most curious ones. Teachers will need to foster curiosity in an age where information comes by itself, without effort.

Education will no longer be successful through the quantity of knowledge transferred, but rather through the learning motivation transferred. How do you transfer learning motivation? By showing the beauty of things. The best teachers will be the teachers who are able to show the beauty of things, and this in any science. In order to show something, you first need to see it yourself. And perhaps 'beauty' needs a little rehabilitation as well.

Monday 26 September 2011

Seven golden rules of management

Here are 'my' seven golden rules of management:

1) Life at work is neither different from life at home nor from life in the world. One should treat others as one would like others to treat oneself. This rule is equally applicable to work, whether the other person is customer, a shareholder, a boss, a colleague, a supplier or the person who takes care of the office building. We need all of them to come to a result.

2) Conflict kills cooperation. Therefore: select objectives that are located outside of yourself, preferably to the benefit of the company, the country and ideally to society in general.

3) Stop any gossip talk, even and especially if the gossip is true. Nothing is so detrimental to success. If you wouldn't say it in the presence of a particular person, don't say it at all. When you hear it, stop it and talk about something positive. After a while, the true gossip will prove to be untrue.

4) In a hierarchical system, all information going downward, from the top to the base, is amplified by a factor of 10 per level. All upward information, from base to top, is damped by a factor of 10 per level. (Exact formula for engineers is plus or minus 10*log n decibel , where n is the number of employees per department). This implies that top people should listen very well and that base people should speak up very well.

5) Every manager should be aware that he is walking around with a shiny purple party hat with big pink letters: "I am a manager!". The manager who denies being a clown is not worthy of being a manager. Wearing a tie may only help you stay aware of your festive attire.

6) Nothing happens by itself. If you didn't think of something, probably nobody did. You can still delegate what nobody has thought of but you have to bring it up. Otherwise Murphy's law applies: the slice of bread will always fall on the 'jam' side.

7) The wisdom of the Dakota indians teaches us that when you discover that you are riding a dead horse, the best strategy is to dismount. Love your horse like yourself.

(Some inspiration came from Jeroen Bosch, Peter Drucker, Dilbert.com and manager-tools.com)

Sunday 18 September 2011

Meritocracy is merito-crazy

It is good to be aware of this. We live in a meritocracy. We are told we deserve to be what we are. If we go well, it is our merit. If we go bad, it is our own fault. The positive outcome of meritocracy is that it makes us work and that is good. But it is essentially based on a lie. We are not what we deserve to be. If we go well, it is not our merit. And if we go badly, it may be our own fault, but it usually isn't.

Why do I tell this today? Well, this morning, the gospels brought us the parable of the workers in the vineyard, one of my favourites. This parable basically tells us that God is against meritocracy. He rewards us according to our needs, not according to our merits. And if we go well, it is essentially by grace, not by merit.

Moreover, also 'secular' philosophers like Alain de Botton have pointed out that today's extreme meritocracy causes status anxiety and destroys happiness. The truth is: we have much less control over our lives than we think. If we don't go too well, we should do our best, but we shouldn't be blamed. And if we go well, we should recognise how lucky we have been to get there.

So we should admit that the waves of fortune are somewhat beyond our control. Management thinkers should also recognise this. Let us get rid of our merito-craziness.

Sunday 21 August 2011

The Knowledge-Creating Company

During my latest lovely holiday period, I decided to re-read a book that I must have read 10 to 15 years ago. "The Knowledge-Creating Company" is a book written by Japanese professors Ikujiro Nonaka and Hirotaka Takeuchi. The authors not only confirm the importance of knowledge to companies in the same spirit like e.g. Peter Drucker. They go a step further and look into the process of knowledge creation. One -often forgotten- aspect of knowledge and knowledge creation is the importance of implicit, tacit knowledge, as opposed to the explicit knowledge that can be described in patents, procedures and handbooks. This implicit knowledge is hidden, not only in the individual people's minds but also in daily practices and in the collective soul of the company.

The book is inspiring because it builds on very solid foundations: Greek wisdom, Buddhism, the highest ethical standards, the best classics of management and some Japanese spirit. Including 'just hard work' of course. It is refreshing in this time of crisis because they neither come up with popular messages nor with unnecessary controversial theses.

I was also glad to read in the flemish magazine Trends that prof. Nonaka published an article in the Harvard Business Review where he pointed out the importance of the right type of knowledge to leadership. According to Nonaka, managers are nowadays too much focused on explict knowledge and short-term advantages. The right type of knowledge needed is however practical wisdom and a general concern for company and society. It is a bit idealistic but it seems like we need it?

Sunday 24 July 2011

Amsterdam

A significant moment for me was the Liveline project final review meeting in Amsterdam. I had already reported on the Liveline project in this blog. More about the meeting can be found on the Liveline project web site.

Tuesday 31 May 2011

Afraid of progress

Rational arguments don't seem to matter too much. Last week, a gentechnology research area of the University of Ghent was destroyed because it contained gene-modified potatoes. I was glad to see that I was not the only one who didn't understand this. First: this field was a research field, run by scientists. Second: this research, when successful, can save millions of human lives on a globe that is bound to suffer from a major food crisis. In this case, rich people are destroying something that can save poor people's lives, simply because they are afraid of progress. I agree we need to be careful with gene technology before we put it into production. But that is what this research is all about. Should we let nature decide that the potatoes become food for insects and fungi? Humankind survived because it did NOT leave everything up to nature. Unless you consider human creativeness as a product of nature. Thanks to cross-fertilisation and domestication of plants, we are capable of discussing this new possibility today.