The Illusion of Progress: A Guide to Getting the Least Out of Industry 4.0
Let’s face it — actual transformation is exhausting.
It involves strategy, structure, stakeholder alignment, organizational change, rethinking KPIs, new ways of working, and occasionally even a few hard conversations. Sounds like a lot, right?
But what if I told you there’s another way?
A way to look progressive without actually progressing. A way to say the word “digital” so many times that people stop questioning what you’re doing. A way to spend piles of money, keep everything the same… and still win awards for innovation.
Welcome, my friends, to the Illusion of Progress™.
Recently, I had the distinct pleasure (and occasional horror) of evaluating nearly 1,000 manufacturers and their Industry 4.0 initiatives. We weren’t looking for who had the best strategy. No no. We were on a different mission: finding those who had mastered the art of looking busy while staying stuck.
These were companies that had spent millions, implemented the newest technologies, hired the trendiest consultants — and somehow managed to change absolutely nothing.
These legends of illusion are our inspiration. And from them, I’ve distilled the ultimate guide to getting the least amount of value from your Industry 4.0 investments.
Step 1: Begin with a Tech Shopping Spree
Forget strategy. Forget business problems. Just go shopping.
Go to every trade show, every analyst recommendation, and every slide that has a Gartner quadrant. Ask vendors the one question that matters most: “Is this Industry 4.0?”
If it is, buy it. Don’t worry about whether it fits your architecture. Or if you have the skills to support it. Or if you even have a problem it solves.
Remember: if it uses the cloud, uses AI, or uses the term “next-gen,” it's basically transformation in a box.
Step 2: Create a Steering Committee That Never Steers
Form a cross-functional team with at least 15 people. Give them no authority, no KPIs, and no deadlines.
Meet monthly. Talk about how important alignment is. Create a shared Teams folder full of half-read PDFs, a few benchmarking reports, and one killer PowerPoint from a 2018 innovation summit that still slaps.
Most importantly: never make decisions. That’s how progress accidentally happens.
Step 3: Keep Your Processes Exactly the Same
This is critical.
Digital transformation isn’t about fixing broken processes — it’s about digitizing them. Don't change how you work; just build a tech wrapper around it.
Got a manual approval step that’s held up production for 15 years? Perfect. Just add a notification in the new system so you’re instantly alerted… to the same delay.
It’s called modern inefficiency. And it’s beautiful.
Step 4: Ignore Metrics. Or Better Yet, Just Keep the Old Ones.
Want to ensure your transformation stays firmly in the land of illusion? Never change your KPIs.
Just keep tracking OEE like it's 1997. Ignore anything new the technology enables — like energy optimization, downtime prediction, or customer lead time analytics.
And if someone does suggest a new metric? Call it “too immature” or “outside of current reporting scope.” That’ll buy you at least another year of status quo.
Step 5: Rebrand Existing Projects as Innovation
Got a project that failed last year? Rebrand it as “experimental.”
Did you automate one report using Excel macros? Call it “citizen development.”
Just built a new dashboard no one uses? Boom — “digital thread.”
Language is your secret weapon. Because if you can rename the ordinary, you can convince yourself you're extraordinary.
Step 6: Create a CoE (But Staff It Lightly and Isolate It Completely)
You’ll want to do this one for the LinkedIn post.
Create a “Digital Center of Excellence” and give it a visionary mission like “Empowering transformation through scalable innovation.”
Then staff it with 1.5 people.
Make sure they're not connected to the plants, not empowered to change policy, and not invited to any real strategy meetings. But do give them nice business cards and a cool logo.
Optics > impact.
Step 7: Focus on Pilots Forever
Never scale anything. Scaling is where results happen, and that’s dangerous.
Instead, embrace the Pilot Purgatory™ strategy. Run dozens of “proof-of-concepts” across the organization. Don’t worry if they overlap or contradict. Don’t worry if they solve anything.
Call them “learning opportunities.” This keeps the budget flowing and accountability at bay.
Step 8: Automate Without Understanding
RPA? Do it. Machine learning? Do it. Predictive analytics? Do it.
Just don’t ask why.
The best way to stay inefficient with maximum speed is to automate ignorance. It makes your bad decisions faster, your outdated processes more brittle, and your inability to respond to change legendary.
Pro tip: if your AI is just predicting tomorrow’s version of yesterday’s mistake… congratulations, you’re doing it right.
Step 9: Spend on Tools, Not People
Transformation is all about software licenses, servers, and cloud credits.
Don’t waste time on training. Or org change. Or building internal champions. Those things have no invoice, and if it can’t be amortized, is it even real?
The more you invest in tools over talent, the greater the illusion. After all, robots don’t argue. People do.
Step 10: Call It Industry 4.0 — Then Move On
No matter what happens, once the tech is installed, declare victory.
Say the words: “This is just the beginning” — but never follow up.
Put “Industry 4.0” on your website. Add it to your investor slides. Take a team photo in front of a touchscreen. You’ve earned it.
Just don’t look too closely at whether your business, your workflows, or your outcomes actually changed. That’s beside the point.
Closing Reflection (But Not Too Reflective)
In our analysis of the thousand manufacturers, the true champions weren’t the ones with the best tech. They were the ones who had invested the most money… with the least amount of change.
They had perfected the art of inertia with a digital glow-up. The appearance of innovation, the language of transformation, and the results of none of the above.
So if you too want to climb the ranks of the “Most Expensively Stuck” — you now have the blueprint.
Because nothing says “modern manufacturer” like yesterday’s process in today’s packaging.
And remember: progress is optional — but illusion is scalable.
