There is a first time for everything. I never thought that I would do a product review but during this vacation, I had too many good laughs with these three personal assistants that I felt the urge to share them with you.
This morning I took my car to be repaired. The mechanic shook his head: “This is a new model,” he said. “I’ve no idea how it works.” Later, I visited the hospital to discuss a planned operation. I asked the surgeon if she would use a new technique I’d read about online. “Oh, that sounds interesting,” she said. “I’d never heard of that before.”
Okay, okay: none of this actually happened. But imagine how shocked you would be if it did. We simply assume that professionals keep up to date with the changing state of knowledge that’s necessary to do their job.
We’re often told that Switzerland is the most innovative country in the world. At least, I’m often told that, when I give talks challenging companies in Switzerland to be more innovative. People in my audience point to various rankings which put Switzerland at #1, and say we can’t be that bad.
No doubt those rankings are measuring something meaningful. But I doubt they are measuring innovation in our day-to-day lives – at least, not judging by a recent trip I made to America.