elearnspace

Dabbawala’s are a 5000 person collective involved in the complex delivery of meals in India. They are renowned for extreme efficiency in their work and organization, with an error rate of only 1 per 6 million deliveries. And they do it without technology. The cult of the dabbawala looks at this organization from the perspective of management on organizational effectiveness. An important concept: “Most of our modern business education is about analytic models, technology and efficient business practices…The dabbawalas, by contrast, focus more on human and social ingenuity”.
I’m not sure why people find it surprising that dabbawala-level efficiency is possible without technology. Technology serves largely to augment and extend humanity. And it does so on a technical (duh) and conceptual basis. The conceptual basis of this extension, however, has existed in numerous forms long before computers. Tablets, pencils, paper, and machines have been a focus of philosophers and theologians for thousands of years. Yes, technology makes certain things possible, but, as Postman states, it gives and takes away. Human and social ingenuity is involved in a reciprocal relationship with technology – both forming and being formed.