The Distortion of Time and Unintended Consequences for Transformation, 2040’s Ideas and Innovations Newsletter, Issue 103

Issue 103, April 13, 2023

With our celebration and awe of emerging tech (think generative AI), there is a basic issue that we rarely consider: the distortion of time. What we mean is that we are in such a hurry to develop and adopt new tech that we frequently leapfrog over its actual relevance, usefulness or even its consequences to our organizations and business models. Let alone do we address the potential legal or policy issues that relate to the application and applicability of the technology to our society, and yes, to our organizations and even ourselves.

Digital transformation presents an essential problem: By the time we build, adopt or buy tech solutions, the technology is often outdated or is unable to solve new problems that have emerged. These new problems may have resulted from the transformation process itself or new ideas that we ha…