Optimized

Baseball today is optimized. In 2003, when the Oakland A’s implemented advanced analytics, they had a clear advantage over the rest of the league. Now, everyone uses advanced analytics. So, where is the next advantage going to be found?

The same is true with many technologies and industries. At first, you can create an edge, and then it becomes the standard for optimizing. As we see, every corner becomes optimized, and what will be in less demand is human effort. Someone else has already taken care of it for us.

There comes a point, however, when we must realize that the goal isn’t optimization. The goal should be towards better. Towards dignity. Towards meaning. When all we are focused on is doing things faster/cheaper, this is what the results look like. But are we satisfied? Shouldn’t baseball, you know, be fun?

I don’t think most will complain about an efficient healthcare system. But when we forget that we are treating humans and not just numbers on a spreadsheet, we have lost something. Effecient systems may be really good at producing Model T’s but won’t create significance in our lives. And we have very much missed the mark if we think we can outsource this out.

When are we to simply ask, “At what cost?” Is this really the world we are going to build or can we imagine something better?