How to unscramble an egg!

A recently published book by Martyn Amos entitled ‘Genesis Machines’ takes a futuristic look at the science of biocomputing. Apparently, some large corporations are looking beyond the microchip to computer systems which replicate the way the DNA stores and passes on information.

When some scientists were told of this development they asked if such machines would be capable of unscrambling an egg. A serious problem as scrambling an egg reorganises the protein of the DNA and cannot, it seems, be reversed.

I was struck by the anology with organisational change. Some organisations appear to change infrastructure without realising the basic components of the infrastructure they are changing. Perhaps, if we do learn how to unscramble an egg, it may have some useful implications for organisational development. Unfortunately, Amos tells us, the first biocomputers of which he talks could be centuries in the future.

Debunking Myths about the Developing World

On Google Video Canada, you will find a video of a lecture by Hans Rosling on World Development:

http://video.google.ca/videoplay?docid=4237353244338529080

It is a fine example of how to visualise complex data through the use of some stunning graphics:

QUOTE>>>“With the drama and urgency of a sportscaster, Hans Rosling debunks a few myths about the “developing” world. Rosling is professor of international health at Sweden’s world-renowned Karolinska Institute, and founder of Gapminder, a non-profit that brings vital global data to life. (Recorded February 2006 in Monterey, CA. Duration: 20:35)”

Context could be ‘everything’!

I had the pleasure of attending an excellent meeting of a sub-group of the North East Social Capital Forum yesterday afternoon. This sub-group was established to draft a response from the Forum to the Regional Development Agencies ‘Regional Economic Strategy’.

At the meeting, I was struck by the understanding of the need to create an appropriate and effective environment for sustaining change within deprived communities.

As I was returning home, I began to reflect on the meeting and, as ever, many ideas came to mind on what the primary outcome of the meeting was for me. Suddenly, the phrase ‘content is king’ came into my mind. This is a term heralded by the (unsuccessful) Internet-based .com companies, and, at on stage, I think the Microsoft Corporation.

Content, however, seems to amount to nothing unless it is related to its function and form within the surrounding environment. This, for me,  is the real significance of context.

Any sustainable strategy for regeneration needs to be placed within an appropriate political, social and economic context. The Regional Economic Strategy heralds economic regeneration as the primary driver which somewhat tends to take the process out of context, so, in terms of a response to the Strategy, context could be ‘everything’!