Paul Kipchumba
2019
I was shocked by the
audacity of one of the discussants in the social media who said that only two
pages of a write-up is enough to execute a major project and move forward. I
agreed with him in the sense that the two pages should be just the summary of
the written work.
I know it’s difficult
to reconcile that what we call hard work is drudgery of details. And it makes a
whole difference between individuals, organizations and nations. Let’s assume
that all great ideas are a result of research and incremental observations. It
should not be challenging to trace the paperwork from first discovery to
present state. For instance, the drilling of the first oil well (Drake Well) in
Titusville, Pennsylvania, USA, in 1859 to the development of the modern complex
refinery; the invention of the gun powder in China nearly 1000 years ago to the
development of the hydrogen bomb and complex nuclear reactors the AP1000; or
the experiment of Turing machines that could fool a human being in the 1950s to
today’s widespread use of Artificial Intelligence.
Nearly all practical
accomplishments are begun with an idea, then research, then a plan. The
research and planning components are the most detailed aspects of it. Even in
the manufacture of a cup for drinking water, there is a lot of combination of
all sorts of paperwork from material science to fine art. I followed the
development of Soviet-Ukrainian abandoned hull of an aircraft carrier Varyag
that was bought and modernized by China into a ski-jump aircraft carrier
Liaoning. The hull was accompanied by 40 tones of design paper that cost
Chinese academics and engineers about 3 years to study. A catapult aircraft
carrier like the US’ Nimitz or Ford classes would be even a more complex
paperwork.
That is just in the
realm of science and technology that is usually prompted by a myriad of
scientific papers. Academics and writers excel one another not only by quality
of paperwork but also quantity. This category of paperwork practitioners rank
foremost on the complexity of their paperwork. Paperwork not only shows the
extent of their commitment to their careers but is also a manifestation of the
attitude of the individuals and their organizations. Individuals and
organizations with limited paperwork are the less advanced and lowly ranked and
should not be taken seriously. Even leaders with less paperwork have not caused
any fundamental socio-political reforms in human history. Paperwork is not
necessarily published materials. They can be organization’s reports, speeches,
letters, counsels, among others.
This challenge becomes
even more glaring with states, businesses, and other organizations.
Organizations and states influence public opinion through paperwork. There is
virtually no state without think tanks that churn out endless policy and
strategy proposals. There is no competitive business without a dedicated
research and development wing, which is much more superior to an average
university.
Therefore, to move
forward we must pay attention to paperwork with practical details. Even to
modernize agriculture alone there should be dedicated paperwork on soil
science, technology, markets, management, et cetera.
No comments:
Post a Comment