How Roman War Chariots Dictate Our Technology Today & Corporate Leadership Training

August 26, 2010

There are great ripple effects to all you do in an organization that will far outlast its usefulness yet I am continually amazed at how many companies continue to allow outdated processes rule how they do things today.

What do I mean by processes that outlast their usefulness and then dictate or control how you do things today?

Railroad tracks are 4 feet 8 inches which is an odd size. The reason our railroad tracks are that size is as follows: they were built by English standards, England built their railroads to follow the tramways that were used by wagons, tramways were that size because the old roads in England had entrenched wheel ruts that go all the way back to Roman times when the war chariots formed the initial ruts and the Roman chariot wheels were spaced that far apart because that allowed two horses in front of the chariot for pulling.

How about something more technologically advanced- Space shuttle booster rockets are the size they are because when the Utah factory that makes them had to ship them to launch pad they had to be shipped by train. The train they went on had to pass through a tunnel in the mountains and the booster rockets had to fit through the tunnel. The tunnel is only slightly wider than the railroad tracks so the booster rockets had to be about the same size as the railroad tracks. Hence our high technology flight is still being influenced by the Roman War Chariots that set the road size which influenced the railroad size.

So I ask you, what processes are you holding on to in your company that are no longer valid? How are they impacting all aspects of your operations? How are they limiting your growth?

You can see from above why often small companies are able to make such huge strides – they step out of the “ruts” and design things from a new perspective.

Get out of your own ruts today!

So tracking we use for Railroads today was actually designed from a process that goes back to Roman times