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MechChem Africa
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February 2017
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Products and industry news
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T
here was a time when the world
consisted of discrete compart-
ments. As a ‘tradesperson’, one
was expected to be an expert in
a particular discipline. Even the question-
ing of the Renaissance of the 14
th
to 17
th
centuries failed to convince the masses
of the need to be proficient in more than
one field.
The term, ‘calling,’ comes to mind.
True Renaissance men were few and far
between. These cultured men who were
knowledgeable, educated and proficient
in a wide range of fields are exemplified
by Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo
who, in today’s terminology, thought ‘out
of the box’.
Inart, this newwayof thinking resulted
in the development of perspective in oil
painting. And, in the less lofty world of
construction, the re-
cycled knowledge
of how to make
concrete. Plus,
of course, Gutenberg’s introduction of
metalmovable type toEurope, which sped
the dissemination of ideas from the late
15
th
century.
While it is true that many so-called
professionals adoptedavocations –activi-
ties that someone engages in as a hobby
outside their main occupation or voca-
tion – it wasn’t until very recently that the
‘silo’ mind-set was challenged. Tertiary
education generallymeant concentration
on one discipline, which, when hopefully
mastered, would become the key to later
life success.
With hindsight I can now understand
why there were quizzical looks when
I admitted to studying languages, law,
economics, mechanical engineering and
architecture alongside my stated major
of psychology. Nobodymentioned ‘renais-
sance’ in describing me. Rather, I’m sure,
themonikers of ‘unsure’ or even ‘spoilt’
came to their minds.
I’d have been happy
to be called an ‘all-
rounder,’ but I’m sure
that even in my first
corporate position as
amanagement trainee
at Unilever, I was still
seen as the ‘Jack of all
trades ... master of none.’
For, in thosedayswhenevery
desk came equipped with a
crank-handle-drivenFacit calcu-
lator, the latest desktopcomputers
had cathode ray tube green screens
and you interfaced via MS-
DOS, the normwas still to
confine yourself to your
specific functional ‘silo.’
It was only with the advent
ofthegraphicaluserinterface(GUI)
that the computer becamemainstream
andtheworldofpersonalcommunications
opened up to all. This gave birth to the
second ‘renaissance’ (‘rebirth’ in English)
In this new quarterly column,
Gary i. Crawford
– Strategic Partner of Mettle Strategic Creativity
and an international strategist and stalwart of industrial marketing with experience from
beers to stainless steel – talks about increasing integration in engineering, the creative value
of interactions across disciplines and the value of breaking out of the ‘silo’ mindset.
Apple’s unsuccessful PDA,
the Newton, which went on sale
in 1993, could take notes, store contacts,
manage calendars and send a fax.
Blurring the lines
and the
new renaissance
... encouraging concepts from different
disciplines to be brought together in
‘constructs’ never before contemplated.
More than anyone else, we can thank
Steve Jobs for facilitating the ease of use
of laptops, enabling communications and
helping todispel the long-heldbelief in the
sanctity of functional silos.
First came the Apple ll (1977), the
world’s first mass-market personal com-
puter. Home, offices and schools around
theworldwould never be the same. Then,
the all-in-one iMac computer in 1998 –
marketed as being Internet-ready out of
the box. In 1991, the high-end, business-
friendly PowerBook laptop line was
launched; followed by the iBook in 1999,
with Wi-Fi technology; the iPod in 2001;
and the iPhone in 2007.
By 2010, Steve Jobs was confident the
worldwas ready to embrace a newtype of
device, a tablet computer. He was right.
The touch-sensitive iPad was an instant
success after its introduction, with15mil-
lion of the devices sold in the launch year.
The phenomenal Apple success story
was not, however, without its hiccups.
Apple’s handheld PDA, the Newton,
went on sale in 1993, at the time that ex
Pepsi-Cola’s John Sculley usurped control
of Apple. The Newton could take notes,
storecontacts,managecalendarsandsend
a fax. With it, Apple didn’t just set out to
create anewdevice. Itwanted to invent an
entirely new class of computer, one that
could slip into pockets and go out into the
world. In fact, the pocket size was a core
design requirement.
At the time, it was extremely difficult
to get component manufacturers to build
any sort of custom parts. Trying to pull
off a design referred to as ‘the Batman
concept’, a sleek black pocketable unit,
proved difficult.
Famed positioning strategists, Jack
Trout and Al Ries, with whom I was inter-
acting at the time, called the Newton “the
Tracking industrial trends