This powerful clip from The Twilight Zone’s “The Obsolete Man” delivers a vital warning for all organizations navigating automation, AI, and digital transformation. It presents a chilling scenario that is deeply relevant to how we value human capital and critical thought today.
The story centers on Mr. Romney Wordsworth, a librarian found “obsolete” by a totalitarian State that has banned books. His elimination is ordered simply because he is “built out of flesh and has a mind”. His role as a librarian—having to do with books—is deemed unnecessary because “there are no more books”.
The core lesson for modern leadership and organizations is this: Any system that fails to value individual human dignity and independent thought is doomed.
Key Quotes for Reflection:
- On Ideology vs. Humanity: “Any state, any entity, any ideology that fails to recognize the worth, the dignity, the rights of man—that state is obsolete.”
- On the Power of Thought: “I exist, and if I speak one thought aloud, that thought lives even after I’m shoveled into my grave.”
- On the Tyranny of Efficiency: The State’s rule is based on the premise that “logic is an enemy, and Truth is a menace.” (A warning against prioritizing narrow, system-defined logic over humanistic truths.)
- On Purpose: Wordsworth, designated as having “no function” and being an “anachronism,” reminds us that a human’s worth is not derived from a system’s temporary need.
The lesson is clear: A job function might become automated, but a human being’s worth and potential are never “obsolete”. Organizations must ensure transformation elevates human dignity, rather than dismisses it.
Watch the video excerpt here: The Obsolete Man (BEST)
#FutureofWork #LeadershipEthics #DigitalTransformation #HumanCapital #PurposeDriven #AIandHumanity #CriticalThinking
