PREDICTIONS – 10 Years Later - Santa Fe Institute

11
Forecasting Destiny
• • •
It was a usual get-together for the employees of the company’s
customer-services department. The occupants of the
small building had all gathered in the large conference room
to listen to announcements of new policies, promotions, office
moves, welcomes and farewells. This time there was a lot of
talk about desks and office equipment, culminating as follows:
“We all know how painful it has been to get our coffee
from a machine which requires exact change. How many
times has each one of us run around asking colleagues for
coins? Well, you can consider this activity part of the past.
Next week we are installing new coffee machines that accept
any combination of coins and provide change. This should
improve employee productivity and satisfaction.”
In spite of its banality, the statement resonated in me because
I had indeed been frustrated more than once by not
having the correct change for my morning cup of coffee. The
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