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CANADIAN INDUSTRY ONLINE - MAY 2012
where computers replaced hand tools.
The same set of industrial rules and
culture applied. Workers reported for
duty, clocking in 9-5 under the watch-
ful eye of their superiors. They pro-
cessed paper work, wrote program
codes, or developed marketing
schemes. They received employee
identification numbers along with sets
of guidelines and instruction manuals.
Their role within organizations existed
as component parts of a system.
Looking back, in the grand
scheme of things (meaning: the entire
scope of human existence and social
organizational models), the industrial
system is relatively young and short-
lived. When millions of workers lost
their jobs, retirement plans, and
homes, it was clear that the model had
some pitfalls. So, where does this
model fall short?
The problem with the industrial
model is two-fold:
1) It relies on the perception that end-
less growth and progress - dependent
upon inexhaustible resources - is need-
ed to secure the future of human soci-
ety
2) Component parts - whether hu-
man or machine - must be maintained
We know now that planetary re-
sources are, in fact, finite and limited.
You cannot have infinite growth on a
finite planet. We also know that human
beings are not mechanized parts of a
system and seek further goals in life.
Economics is a non-meaningful rela-
tionship created by people that
seek meaning. These facts prove
both points above to be incompat-
ible with any future development
and decry a coming (or the cur-
rent) change.
This system has recently
offered indicators of a massive change,
beginning with the financial crises of
2006. Since then, we have seen expand-
ing statistics of joblessness and
job dissatisfaction. Health care
costs associated with these life-
styles continued to boom and
American culture suffers. Can we
really accept that this system is
working?
THE EFFECTS OF CHANGE
So, what happens when a change
befalls the existing status quo? Some
fail and others succeed, some suffer
and others prosper, some cease and
others thrive. The “Great Transition” is
upon us, coming to its greatest fruition
perhaps this year.
“Looking back, in the grand scheme of
things (meaning: the entire scope of human
existence and social organizational models),
the industrial system is relatively young and
short-lived.”
HUMAN RESOURCES