Thought leadership is a tricky subject. I’ve been told more than once, even by some known as expert researchers in their fields, that there are no new ideas under the sun. I don’t agree with that sentiment, but living in an era of information abundance it’s worth asking: when is a perspective worth sharing among the chorus of insights?
My view is that, over the long run, our intelligence and decision-making will succeed or fail based on our ability to connect disparate ideas, filter out noise, and simplify the complex. Working as a technologist across rapidly growing, entrepreneurial organizations of many industries and business models has taught me to focus on the job to be done and let the “right tool” sort itself out. The more complex the question and system, the more universal principles become the simplest approach: curiosity, willingness to experiment, gradual improvement, and good communication.
When have engineers ever been afraid to tackle complex, real world problems?
I was born into a Midwest manufacturing family, so I know what broad-shoulders and blue-collars can do when everyone works together. My college education started in physics, wandered through creative writing and poetry, and finally landed in mechanical engineering. Sharing this anecdote seems to help others understand my viewpoint the quickest, for reasons that I choose not to investigate deeply.
This blog is an effort to share that viewpoint, hear from others walking the journey of transformation, and to help leaders and doers as they navigate an accelerating pace of disruptive change and civilization-scale challenges. The future has real hurdles to overcome: industry, institutions, and individuals must design things and build them faster and more efficiently to forge a new, better reality which outpaces the demand. But when have engineers ever been afraid to tackle complex, real-world problems?
Synthesized Technology Solutions Lens
- Simplify the complex by applying universal principles.
- Information abundance requires more focused synthesis.
- Tech is a tool to solve problems, using tools is a human trait.
- Focus on those doing the work to do the job more efficiently.
That’s the perspective and insight I hope to bring. Synthesized because the state of the art is advancing faster than ever and no one person can hope to master all domains and disciplines. Technology to deliver capabilities that matter to the physical world and make us more efficient. Solutions because all tools, digital and otherwise, are only as valuable as the problems they can solve.
Thanks for reading, I hope you’ll come back for future post series on modeling in diverse systems, simulating the future with uncertainty, and trustworthy machine learning / artificial intelligence (AI / ML) by integrating true-to-physics computational frameworks with measured data or validated information.
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