To be led like a machine is when things run smoothly and the same way at all times. It would be very boring and just something that is possible for humans because we are not robots. Some advantages of having robotic employees are: * Everyone would perform at the same rate and produce the same level of quality * If a person was broken one would only need to call a repairman to make a quick repair then back to work * No one would have feelings or egos * The could work for as long as needed * You wouldn’t have to get to know them
Some disadvantages of having robotic employees are:
* Machines aren’t dedicated * Machines can’t provide feedback that will help improve things * Machines have to be programmed * Machines can’t communicate with one another
It is scary to think that although we as humans are not machines, however, the way of the world is being led by a machine. Everything we do is being done by machine instead of the old way my “manual labor.” Everything I do on the job is done through a computer program. Just 2 years ago we began using a time clock system instead of recording our time on the job and the leave requests when not on the job on paper. What happens to all of that information when the network goes down? That truly scares me to death. Instead of our children playing outside they now sit inside and use a machine to keep up with what is going on outside. You can play football on a machine instead of physically going outside and playing it with friends. That is the world we are living in and it will only get more and more as time goes on.
To be led like an organism is the more ideal way to be because an organism “is responsive to its environment, it can learn and adapt. Like organisms, businesses are born, brow and die” (McCrimmon, 2011). To be led like an organism means a person would have a say so in the way things work, they could provide needed feedback for improvements but on the other hand management would need to keep their feelings in mind and also know that they do have to have a resting time between production times. Organisms are only good for a short time and are not able to be upgraded but instead will eventually move out of their position so that another organism will take its place. The new organism, unlike an upgraded machine, will then have to be allowed some time to learn and absorb the information needed for them to perform the task at hand. Although it is a positive change for the company to hire a fresh face for the company that hasn’t gotten into the mind-set that they have been there too long and are now just doing a job and not actually love the job, it can also slow down production for a short time while the newbie is becoming accustomed to their new position. I had been in my position for 12 years when the staff secretary retired and with her retirement no replacement was hired and therefore her duties were absorbed by myself and other secretaries within our department. It took a while for me to learn her job and perfect it so that it worked for me. Some leaders say that a person leaving doesn’t matter because “everyone can be replaced” that is true to an extent but it doesn’t mean that the job is an easy one.
It would be very neat if we could operate as an organism with a touch of machine. Still have a breathing, functioning body with the ability to be upgraded and not have to struggle over learning new information. Sometimes it seems so unfair that there are some people that are born with the ability to learn things without ever really putting forth a lot of effort. My children
struggle with learning and absorbing some parts of math and it tears my heart out when I try to help them but seem to get nowhere. In that sense, I wish they could learn like a machine; that I could just program the information in their heads and go from there but that wasn’t the way God intended. Like the discussion question regarding the choice theory, we have a choice on how we decide to be successful and how hard we choose to work in order to gain this success. Just like my children and their school, if you choose to just enough to get by then that is exactly what you will get but if you set your goal to do just a little bit more then you will achieve even more success in things you are responsible for.
