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I've tried, in thinking about this talk, to live up to that provocative title. ‘To proceed pulpitically’, as Lord Chesterfield would say, I would like to start with a text from Lord Melbourne, that wise old counsellor of Queen Victoria, and it runs like this, ‘I wish I was as cocksure of anything as Tom Macauley is of everything.’ To put that in a slightly different way, ‘In an uncertain world it is more important to understand than to know’. You may just be intrigued that the new science curriculum has come to a view which I hope will soon be published, that in teaching science to children from the age of five to sixteen, perhaps no more than 40 per cent of the weighting should be on what they actually learn in terms of knowledge and skills. Equally important — perhaps more so — is that they should acquire scientific method, the ability to observe, to infer, to induce and to deduce, to test their conclusions in real life and to communicate these conclusions. So I believe that in an uncertain world this phrase, that it is better to understand than to know, deserves to have a wider currency.

Argues, using extensive historical evidence, for the need to manage the turbulent forces of organizational change to benefit from these apparently unpredictable events, rather than get swept away by them. Argues that the key to success is “Look outwards and add value”.

ON AVERAGE FIGURES, all coutries in the developed world (but, regrettably, not in the third world) are able to increase their national output year by year. Examined in isolation, statistics associated with such growth (e.g. output per worker) demonstrate a comforting trend — even though the vertical scales of graphics might have been selected with that purpose in mind! The simple step of making cross‐country comparisons can, however, quickly remove some of the complacency.

ONLY two months ago (June issue) this journal advocated the more general utilisation of robots in manufacturing industry coupled with a reduction in working hours so that all possible should have a share in what work remains available for humans to do.

The real nature of customer care is defined as being more than making customers smile. The five main requirements are: understanding the customers, methods of measuring service quality, involving employees at all levels, devolving decision taking on customer care and communication.

Suggests that, in a rapidly changing environment, it is necessary to monitor and adapt to those developments which influence managerial decisions and operational procedures. Sees strategic planning as a powerful management tool, which is a holistic approach encompassing not only the intended mission of an organization, but also the human resource planning and development necessary to fulfil that mission. Analyses the application of strategic planning in the library and information field, with particular reference to the special library, although the ideology is relevant to all sectors. Presents two case studies which highlight the areas of management reviews and the marketing of library services.

ON THE DAY that this leader was being written (for between then and publication day is quite a long time) the Bank rate went up for the fourth time in a short period. By the time these words are offered to the reader, the rate might go up again.

Logistics in the industrial sense started in transportation and distribution. Now it is a much broader professional function crossing the traditional boundaries of supply, manufacture and retail. The emergence of logistics as a total concept particularly in the UK is discussed by Bob Hoilier, professor of Operational Management in the Management Science Department at the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology and Editor‐in‐Chief of Logistics World.