How do people deal with big data in 1850s

Big data is not only a modern phrase recently, it is also used in 1850s. In 1854, the first modern organization chart which could monitor the information problem hobbling one the the longest railroad around the world was introduced by Daniel McCallum. Daniel McCallum operated New York and Erie railroad, and he found that the increasing use of the telegraph cause the low speed processing of real-time data including the reports of accidents and trains delay. Thus, this became the innovation for Daniel to create this fascinating organization chart.

The chart is not like our modern top-down organization chart. It is revised. McCallum drew the board of directors as the roots, himself and his chief officers as the tree’s trunk, and the railroad’s divisions and departments as the branches. Authority over day-to-day scheduling and operations went to the divisional superintendents down the line. They believed this setting could be the best way to mange the system and gather the information.

Each superintendent managed the physical geography of the tracks and stations and for the men who moved along the rails. Hence, instead of operating the entire system by himself, Daniel McCallum could authorize managers to deal with the information flows. The details of the functions in this chart can see the reference.

Today, business has so many high technology to process big data comparing to low tech management tool that Daniel McCallum used. Many manager are struggling by the copious data flow. The new mission and target should not only consider how to process big data efficiently, people should also think about the organization and priority.

reference: https://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/Organization/Strategic_Organization/Big_data_in_the_age_of_the_telegraph_3064