Things Fall Apart

I’m seeing a lot of breast-beating about the second major disruption in air travel in less than a month. Apparently, the problems are not limited to Southwest Airlines.

My own view is that what we’re seeing is at least in part a generational shift. Keeping the society running can’t be done on the sort of schedule and the level of effort that the younger generations are willing to accept. If I’m right, expect a lot more disruptions in all sorts of areas in the coming years.

4 comments… add one
  • Andy Link

    I’m less convinced it’s a generational problem than one of legacy systems, organizations, and operational methods (and incentives) that haven’t adjusted to new realities. Much of the industry is like IBM in the late 1980’s.

  • I’m aware of that. I participated in the presentations and bidding process for the system that’s in place now (which replaced an even older one).

    The question is why so many failures all at once? I think that one of the factors is the retirement of so many older workers who were accustomed to these antiquated systems all at once.

    Organizationally, a lot of the U. S. government is stuck back in the 1950s. Procurement is mired back at last 50 years in the past as well. Businesses that operate the way the U. S. government does would be facing a hostile takeover.

  • Andy Link

    Yep, I agree with all that.

  • steve Link

    I think it more likely a combination of things. Legacy systems are everywhere, not just in government. We were still using DOS in our IT system until about 5 years ago. I know that we are not unusual in the regard. So we start out with a shaky substrate. Onto that we then add what has been for a long time a labor market which has heavily favored employers. You could hire people for a 40 hour job, pay them for a 40 hour job but expect them to work 42 hours and if they didnt you could pretty easily replace them. When that changed people could tell employers they weren’t doing the extra work unless they were paid for it or they could leave and readily find new work.

    I think you then add on to this that there are a lot of organizations that really are not especially well managed. It also wouldn’t surprise me if there were entire sectors where poor management was the norm. I know you have seen this. Employees can more safely make demands, go on strike, leave to go work somewhere else when they know the company will have trouble replacing them. They will be more likely to make those demands if they are working someplace that has been poorly run.

    Steve

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