"In 1620, Sir Francis Bacon wrote that there were three technologies for which it was possible to draw a clear line before and after: the printing press, the compass, and gunpowder. Those three technologies that changed the world stretched over 1,600 years. Today, it feels like there's a big disruptive development every 1,600 seconds. Autonomous vehicles . . . augmented reality . . . artificial intelligence . . . additive manufacturing. And those are just the ones that begin with "A.""
"Florence Nightingale was a nurse. You might have a visual of "The Lady with the Lamp," and that's part of Florence's story, but there is so much more. Shocked by her experience in the Scutari hospital during the Crimean War, she developed a series of analyses, brilliantly visualized in polar area charts that showed the power of prevention and proper hygiene in hospitals. She wrote books explaining the essence of nursing that anyone could buy and read, and set up schools to train nurses."
Technological and social disruptions have accelerated dramatically, producing a stream of innovations such as autonomous vehicles, augmented reality, artificial intelligence, and additive manufacturing. Rapid change makes patterns of disruptive innovation important for understanding how societies adapt. Disruptive innovators democratize capabilities and often shift emphasis from treatment to prevention. Florence Nightingale used data visualization, accessible publications, and training institutions to improve hygiene and preventive care, transforming public health practices. Transformative technologies and practices enable broader populations to raise living standards and health. Recognizing how innovations propagate clarifies how institutions and everyday life are reshaped by epic disruptions.
Read at Fast Company
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