My first confrontation with a computerised reservation system took place in 1974 (+/- a year or so, memory fades) when we installed a hard-wired system around the network of the airline I worked for. It was hosted on the BA system, whose name I forget.
As a Regional Manager with a Supervisor login code, I was enabled/empowered to override the system when necessary to avoid the "Computer says No" situation, when it was simple common-sense to see that the computer was not offering the best solution for a passenger, because it was impossible then, as now, to foresee and programme for every possible eventuality.
The problem we now face is that people are no longer trusted to act sensibly, as we were, so that the over-ride button is a thing of the past.
I ascribe this to the dead hand of B-schools, and the unimaginative, p**s-poor, "managers" who leave them able to set up a spreadsheet and make nice, fatuous presentations, but with no discernible trace of leadership in their bodies. You know, the sort of people who rule via emails because they lack the ability or confidence to lead properly.
Almost the first thing a leader needs to know is how to trust people under him or her, and let them get on with it.
Last edited by Capot; 18th Oct 2013 at 14:09.