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This month’s UK Institute of Physics member magazine has ‘Digital Technologies: Celebrating 30 years of the World Wide Web’ as its theme. Reading articles in heavily science-based publications can be hard work, but this month it was worth persevering as they provided three reminders for the Badger. First, just how quickly the internet has developed over 30 years. Second, that without physics there would be no internet. And third, just how groups with nefarious personal, political, business and propaganda objectives have deviated the web from its original intentions. When those who created the web feel it’s ‘morphed into a completely out of control monster’ then something’s definitely amiss!

The Badger’s earlier “The Force Awakens’ blog mused on the debate about whether the FANG tech goliaths are too big, too powerful, and too monopolistic to be trusted. Well, it seems the ‘Force is getting stronger’! Politicians are increasing saying something must be done. For example, Elizabeth Warren, a potential 2020 US President candidate, has proposed breaking up the tech goliaths (see here and here), and the UK’s House of Lords wants to rein in these companies with greater regulation.

Warren says that ‘Today’s big tech companies have too much power – too much power over our economy, our society, and our democracy. They’ve bulldozed competition, used our private information for profit, and tilted the playing field against everyone else’. It’s hard to disagree. In the House of Lords item, a committee chairman says ‘Without intervention, the largest tech companies are likely to gain ever more control of technologies which extract personal data and make decisions affecting people’s lives. Our proposals will ensure that rights are protected online as they are offline while keeping the internet open to innovation and creativity, with a new culture of ethical behaviour embedded in the design of service.’ Again, it’s hard to disagree. Both sets of words reflect the building momentum of the public mood.

The Badger believes that in the right hands, technology focused on solving life’s problems is good for everyone, and that we must remember that the web is used by many individuals, groups and organisations that do just that with a high moral compass. Tech goliaths like the FANGs, however, have had their own way for too long, and breakup and regulation surely benefits society. Such action looks to be some years away. Why? Because with political turmoil in the US, the UK and the European Union, the chances of agreeing any action that starts to make the creators of the web feel it’s no longer an out of control monster are zilch. Inaction by politicians is getting to be unforgiveable…but that’s no real surprise is it?

No large mainstream IT services companies present themselves as being mediocre! Most assert global leadership, emphasise a commitment to clients, stress heritage as a trusted partner, highlight the talent of their employees and how they’re well placed regarding trends in the market. So, what triggered the question in the title? Unsurprisingly, a conversation with friends who’ve had lengthy careers in the IT services industry. We all have something in common – higher degrees in science, engineering or mathematical subjects and multi-decade tenures in large IT services companies.

The conversation meandered but ended up lamenting the demise of the dynamic, creative, and flexible ‘can do’ culture that had kept us at our companies for many years. We concluded that today an individual must be robotically subservient to process dominated corporate machinery to succeed. That means being a fully compliant cog in a giant wheel and accepting that this compliance trumps common-sense, freedom of expression, creativity and experience. We concluded that we’d seen mediocrity rise in large mainstream IT companies and smaller companies offer better cultures, service, value, and career paths.

The Badger revisited the conversation’s conclusion a few days later. Had we ignored the fact that business dynamics and people requirements change frequently in IT, and that commoditisation of everything is rife? Were we just a grumpy group that hadn’t coped with change? No, far from it. We’re intelligent, experienced and objective professionals with lots of first-hand experience and the Badger felt our conclusion was sound.

Many good people work exceptionally hard in large mainstream IT service companies. If you’re one then you’re probably frustrated at seeing projects and services make the same mistakes as five, ten and even twenty years ago. You may also be frustrated by the way you must deal with day to day issues and the feeling that your voice and experienced is under-valued or ignored. Why? Because today’s large company cultures mean that ‘adequate’ is all that’s needed for a cog to turn in a wheel of a super-tanker business and raging against the machine is not encouraged.

If this strikes a chord, then ask yourself whether outcomes for clients are really any better today than they were five or ten years ago? The Badger suspects not. If that’s the case then today’s big company rigidities, and highly prescriptive, process/compliance-dominated cultures have constrained individual thought and dynamism leading to a rise in mediocrity.

Of course, this is a ‘provocative point of view’ and you may disagree. But there’s nothing like impishly stirring the pot to get a reaction, especially when smaller IT services companies are giving the big boys a run for their money by unlocking rather than constraining the full power and potential of their people…

On a hot day last Summer, the Badger stood in the drinks aisle of a local supermarket contemplating cold beer and became aware of a highly recognisable Liverpudlian voice. It was the UK comedian John Bishop chatting on his phone while was pushing a trolley and selecting beer from adjacent shelves. He grinned, nodded to the Badger, put some bottles in his trolley and moved on. He’d probably ‘escaped’ from the stringency of a local health spa often used by TV people for rest and recuperation. The Badger was struck that John Bishop, wearing a polo shirt, khaki shorts, trainers and sporting significantly grey longer hair, was just a normal guy in his early fifties going about daily life.

Then the Badger saw him recently on a live TV show. He was smartly dressed, funny as always, but his hair was all brown! The extensive grey locks from last Summer had disappeared! The Badger laughed, laughed again, and then some more. Why? Because it was a reminder of when a former work colleague had short grey hair one day but arrived the next day sporting brown hair whilst saying nothing to his bemused colleagues. The Badger is aware that lighting, colour and makeup are important in TV, but dying your hair John? Really? Isn’t dying hair to remove grey just a sign of insecurity? Apologies if you hadn’t, by the way. Either way, your natural comedy skills seem unaffected.

Laughter’s important. It boosts your immune system, lowers stress, and triggers chemicals that make you feel good. The Badger’s laughter outburst triggered some reflections on the human dynamics of the many company leadership conferences the Badger attended during his career. Such events are standard corporate fare with company execs telling attendees about business performance, strategic objectives, market trends, organisational tuning, improvement programmes, and so on. They’re all about aligning people with the corporate agenda – an imperative for success. The events themselves are often formulaic and somewhat limited in the laughter stakes. Presenters rarely have a natural comedy streak and things can be a bit dull for the audience.

The Badger impishly concluded two things. Firstly, that business is a serious affair but all execs and leaders presenting at such internal corporate events should lighten up! People absorb messages better if the characters conveying them can engage naturally with their audience to generate laughter. Secondly, if you attend such events and you are also an investor then watch out for company executives that dye their hair to remove grey. It might suggest that insecurity and vanity abound, and that challenging times may lie ahead for the company. It might be time to sell…just remember to laugh when you do so!

The Badger has the luxury of time for contemplation. This time allows thoughts to meander to whatever conclusion ultimately emerges. It’s quite therapeutic, and quite exciting because the outcome can’t be predicted from the initial input triggers.
A couple of things caught the Badger’s attention and not only triggered a chuckle, but also provided inputs for contemplation time! The first was Nike’s self-lacing Smart Shoes – see here, here and here – and the second was someone’s blog item entitled ‘Can tech replace politicians?’.

Nike’s ‘wearable tech’ Smart Shoes are currently sports shoes where small improvements in equipment and performance can make the difference between winning or losing. The Badger chuckled because firstly a smart phone app controls the fit of the shoes, and secondly because the shoes need recharging every 10 to 14 days. The Badger also had a mental flash of a future where people are unable to dress themselves if they lost their phone or there was disaster with a software update! Bizarre, I know, but the brain works in strange way.

The ‘Can tech replace politicians?’ chuckle was driven by the creativity of the blogger’s idea therein, and the realisation that political and democratic mechanics cannot be immune to tech-driven change. The Badger might be a tad mischievous, but the blogger’s idea could really be implemented! After all, if Smart Meters can be developed and rolled out to a population then so can the blogger’s suggestion!

It was these chuckle points that provided input for a meandering contemplative session. The outcome? Two related things. First, the influence of the ‘little guy’ is rising. Second, there’s re-orientation coming for the tech and IT industries. Why? Because people are more rational about tech, more distrustful of marketing hype, more price sensitive, and sceptical of the motives of big organisations, especially regarding use of personal data and (mis)treatment of their loyalty. Tech and IT is also commoditised with small and medium businesses no longer in awe of the ‘big guys’. They challenge big corporates in every sector, and their star is rising ever faster. After all, it’s smaller enterprises not big ones that have created almost 75% of the new jobs in the UK in the last ten years.

‘Big guys beware’, the ‘little guys’ are not gnawing at your ankles, they’re gnawing at your knees. So it’s the ‘little guys’ who have the future in their hands, not those gathered at Davos to discuss “Globalization 4.0: Shaping a New Architecture in the Age of the Fourth Industrial Revolution” – whatever that really means. By the way, the Badger’s just heard David Attenborough talk at Davos about environmental issues. Has Nike thought about the carbon footprint of Smart Shoes? Don’t know, but they could of course reduce it by reverting to traditional shoes you actually need to lace up…

The annual CES Show in Las Vegas last week is widely reported. You’ll get a sense of what was there from diverse insights from CBS News, CNET, and The Register. The show provided interesting insights to tech trends, as well as a plethora of ‘gadgets’ that just trigger a furrowed brow and a grunt of ‘Why??’.

Gadgets are everywhere today. Marketeers are adept at getting us to buy them as ‘must-haves’ in life, when often they aren’t. Millennials, who’ve grown up with the internet, PCs, smart phones, social media and electronic toys at the heart of their lives, seem particularly susceptible to ‘gadget whims’. In contrast, the Badger – a proud member of the Tech/IT industry’s older generation – has become resistant to ‘gadget whims’ while remaining pro-gadget where there’s alignment with a ‘Gadgets for Good’ mantra. What does this mantra mean? Simply that the gadget’s benefit for the majority of people must be plain to see.

The CES covered many tech aspects, trends and innovations that will help with people’s lives, e.g. in health and caring for the elderly. However, the supporting spin and rhetoric was sometimes questionable, and some things like Jovot and Kiki really don’t pass the ‘Gadgets for Good’ test, at least in the Badger’s opinion! Whilst good gadgetry for monitoring and managing our health and care is emerging, the believability that robots will ultimately provide all the care and support needs of infirm, vulnerable and often elderly patients is questionable. Why? Because humans have an in-built need to interact with other human beings.

If you’ve elderly or vulnerable relatives/friends with health conditions and a high dependency on others, then you’ll know this already. You’ll know that providing a knowing smile, a wink, spontaneous comforting words, a caress of an arm, the holding of a hand, or that saying something funny means more than all the cold automation and robotics in the world. Of course, when millennials get old and infirm it may be different. They may be happy to have everything provided by gadgets and robots, but the Badger doubts it. After all, if that were the case then the robots themselves will probably have decided there’s little point having humans on the planet.

There’s no let-up in tech innovation, and gadgets that fall into the ‘Gadgets for Good’ category will progress healthily through 2019. Those that don’t should be binned so that tech talent can be recycled where it’s needed for the greater good.

Finally, it’s an historic day in the UK Parliament regarding Brexit. The behaviour of politicians of all persuasions has been woeful. So, if anyone has a bright idea for a gadget that curbs their playground capers then you’ll make a lot of money. The Badger for one would see that as a ‘Gadget for Good’!

The smartest and busiest people, like Warren Buffet and Bill Gates, apparently spend 5 hours a week doing deliberate learning. They do this because they recognise learning is the best time investment we can make. It pays back by enhancing personal and business success. You’ll see many items on the subject if you search the web or YouTube. One particular online article, penned a year ago, caught the Badger’s eye recently because it struck a chord with some of the motives for the Badger’s website.

One powerful point this article made is:
‘Unlike money, when you have knowledge and you use it or give it away you don’t lose it. Transferring knowledge anywhere in the world is free and instant.’

True! When you convey knowledge to help someone else, you aren’t weakened but they are enriched. A win, win.

Some years back the Badger ran a magnificent team that successfully delivered the systems and services for trading UK wholesale electricity under new arrangements (NETA). Everyone learned lots, and the Badger’s employer wanted salient learning passed to a similar project underway in the Czech Republic. The Badger was sent to Prague ‘to see how it’s going and pass on knowledge gained from experience’.
The Badger met the young Czech PM at his desk in Prague. His desk was a mess and covered in papers and post-it notes. The PM was hungry to succeed, but stressed, working 14 hours a day, and only in control of his project by his finger-tips. He met with the Badger only because his line management insisted. At first the PM was antagonistic, but eventually he had an epiphany and willingly absorbed the Badger’s knowledge. Over lunch on the final day, the Badger told the PM that his success depended on finding time to routinely helicopter away from events to think, learn, and strategize. We parted on good terms.

Six weeks later the Badger went to Prague for a follow up. The project was doing well. The PM was pleased to see the Badger, relaxed, in control, and proud of the project’s progress. His desk was tidy and had a framed picture of a helicopter at one corner that he proudly said was his reminder to helicopter away from events to think and learn. He now allocated an afternoon every week for that very purpose. He thanked the Badger profusely, which was embarrassing! He and his project went on to great success.

So, pass on your knowledge to help others freely! It’s satisfying, and you don’t lose anything by doing so. Remember, in today’s knowledge and information world, working hard is only part of what’s needed to succeed. Learning hard is the other part. Never be too busy to learn and always absorb knowledge from others with experience…

The Badger partied with members of the local community recently. It was a very enjoyable occasion with young and old from all walks of life. There was merriment, music, and – unexpectedly – a captivating game that put people randomly into teams to come up with two words. The first word was to describe the world in 2018, and the second was to predict the public mood in 2019. Each team verbalised the rationale for their words to the crowd for a minute or so, and at the end of the game everyone voted to decide the best words. It proved enlightening!

The winning word describing 2018 was ‘Putrid’. A great word! It won by a mile and crystallised deeply held sentiments on nerve agent use in Salisbury, murder in Saudi’s embassy in Turkey, Mr Trump, fake news, misuse of personal information by FANGs, corporate failures like Carillion, and the playground antics of UK and European politicians relating to Brexit. Phew…,but no real surprise! One party-goer pulled no punches and said ‘putrid’ described ‘elites’ for what they are – over-moneyed, over-propertied, pampered, self-serving, self-interested, power-crazed egotists! The Badger wouldn’t go that far, but the sentiment had lots of support!

The winning word predicting the public mood for 2019 was ‘Rebellious’. Party-goers wanted there to be a popular backlash against everything ‘putrid’ in 2019. A push-back against the wolf-pack nature of the press, fake news on social media platforms, and societal impact of FANGs were ambitious objectives in the case made for the word.
The Badger wasn’t in the winning teams, but it’s hard to disagree with the winning words. As Yoda said, ‘You must feel the force around you’, and the Badger certainly felt a ‘Force Awakens’ moment in fellow party-goers! They were not anti-technology, anti-FANG, anti-internet, anti-business or anti-change, just intent to have a say and emboldened by the power they realised they could wield. Most wanted 2019 to be about things that really improved their lives and not about making fabulous amounts of money for distant, greedy organisations.

Martha Lane Fox recently said ‘Tech became darker and muddier in 2018’. The Badger agrees. 2019 looks set to be similar unless even more people pressure speeds up the debate on whether FANGs are too big, too powerful, and too monopolistic to be trusted. When the ‘Force Awakens’ in people things tend to change. Facebook is already suffering and public pressure is influencing tech giant regulation which is high on the political agenda in many countries. Interesting times ahead!

In the right hands, technology focused on solving life’s problems is good for everyone. So, in 2019 let’s focus more on software and technology in the health, life, materials and environmental sciences, and in manufacturing, engineering and energy that positively benefits our lives. Let’s not get consumed by social media’s failings, crass computer games and greedy elites. Remember, the Force Awakens! And on that note, ‘May the force be with you’ in 2019…