Learning from Waterloo: Computer Information Systems Will Carry the Day

Fortnightly Magazine - November 1 1995
This full article is only accessible by current license holders. Please login to view the full content.
Don't have a license yet? Click here to sign up for Public Utilities Fortnightly, and gain access to the entire Fortnightly article database online.

Nathan Rothschild knew before anyone else that Napoleon would lose the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. With this advance knowledge he dumped his British-backed government securities on the market, making it appear as if he had heard the opposite outcome. His competing merchant bankers, following Rothschild's move, also sold their securities. After Rothschild saw the market bottom out, he repurchased every piece of paper he could lay his hands on (em at fire sale prices. He made a killing.How did he accomplish this feat? Long before Waterloo, Rothschild had established a network of contacts throughout Europe. To each field contact he gave carrier pigeons. Whenever his contacts saw a critical change in the marketplace, they sent out a pigeon. They weren't always right and the news was not necessarily momentous. Yet, this carrier pigeon

network was like the E-mail of his day.

What gave Rothschild his competitive edge was his understanding of the randomness of the information flow. He therefore scattered his network throughout the European theater, not knowing where the answer would come from. At the same time, he focused his network. Rothschild knew what he was looking for and clearly told his field contacts what to watch for. This is the competitive art of "random focus," an art that all utility as well as nonutility power companies must learn.

Groupware, such as Lotus Notes(r) and other application software, provides today's utilities with the technological equivalent of an efficient carrier pigeon network. Groupware flattens the organizational structure by re-moving bureaucratic information barriers. In short, it allows a random flow of information.

This full article is only accessible by current license holders. Please login to view the full content.
Don't have a license yet? Click here to sign up for Public Utilities Fortnightly, and gain access to the entire Fortnightly article database online.