The New Automation Mindset

CHAPTER 16The Automation Ecosystem

“You're making million dollar moves but taking nickel shots.”

—Tara VanDerveer, Stanford Women's Basketball Head Coach

When packing for a flight, it used to be the norm to fill a carry‐on bag with consumer electronics. I'd grab my PDA, GPS, digital camera, iPod, headphones, and flip phone. We'd toss in a few portable DVD players and Gameboys for the kids. On flights, I felt like my sole job was to locate the next device needed by the family. All these devices provided great value, but the combined list was overkill. Today, all these functions are handled by our smartphones.

Now, smartphones meet most needs as the foundation of our digital lives—but not for everything. There are still large markets for specialized, purpose‐built cameras. Pro photographers like to use DSLR cameras that cost thousands of dollars. Thrill seekers prefer to take a rugged GoPro along for their adventures. Filmmakers will shoot their movies on big 8k cameras that capture the tiniest detail. While camera specialization is unimportant to the average person, it is still useful for specialists.

When I consider automation in most companies, it feels like my grab bag of early 2000s electronics. We have RPA, APIM, ETL, ELT, Reverse ETL, ESB, EDI, Event Streams, BPM, ...