This article by Tom Henricksen was originally published on MyITCoachCareer.com.
“In the old days, we painstakingly copied our emails onto paper, put a stamp on them and mailed them to arrive 4 to 5 days later. We also churned our own butter and used our phones for talking.”
– Peter Sagal, NPR, “Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me!”
Scott Klososky is the founder of the firm Future Point of View where they help companies use technology in their business. I recently viewed his webinar called “Humalogy, the Perfect Blending of Humanity & Technology.” He said humalogy is the integration of technology and humanity. In today’s world we are beginning to rely on technology more and more to make decisions. Scott detailed the adjudication process of insurance claims many years ago. Before technology was used, two hundred people were needed for the process. Today this process is largely replaced with computer software and a few humans to handle the odd cases that don’t fit.
What is the definition of Humalogy? “The perfect blending of humanity and technology. Melding the head (information processing power) and the heart (human/spiritual connection.) The efficient use of machines, and the sensitive understanding of emotions.”
We need to strive for the Humalogical balance where humans are doing what we do best and the technology is doing what it does best. Scott says how we traditionally have segregated work that technology does from human work. He points to an article about Toyota where they changed their plants from this segregated model to one where the two complement each other. He highlights how we should break down tasks where they fit these recommendations.
Tasks that fit technology best are:
- Repetitive
- Dangerous
- Require data analysis
- Too large or small
Tasks that fit humans best are:
- Involve thinking
- Use social or emotional intelligence
- Creative
- Intuitive
- Adaptability
Humalogical scale
Clearly understanding where tasks should be done helps businesses better engage their customers. We have all been frustrated when we call a large company and we have to traverse through an extensive phone tree. Scott discusses this through the lens of his humalogical scale that gives us a means to measure what a task would use. For instance a job that requires entirely on humans is an H5, where a job that is dependent on technology is a T5. So then there are variations between the two.
http://youtu.be/vlBnmrQ3u40
Leadership Factor
Scott discussed the many facets of leadership and how some of them are high on the human factor. Skill development, problem solving, and inspiring the team require human skills that would be hard to re-create in a computer or with technology. He also mentioned how many leaders excel at these human traits, but there are many things technology can help out with that leaders avoid. Items such as a decision support system or data intelligence use levels of technology to aid our decisions and many leaders avoid these. I would think this might be a bit of a generational thing that will go away with newer generations.
Overall I enjoyed Scott’s provocative presentation. He essentially starts a conversation about what technology can do for us and where we should use it. Some people seem to think technology will replace us all, but Scott tells us that we can do some things better and it is important for people to differentiate what works best for their company.
What are your thoughts about human and technology interactions?
Powerful, passionate and creative, Scott Klososky is one of the first successful Internet entrepreneurs and is a highly sought-after technology and future trends speaker. He is the author of The Velocity Manifesto, Enterprise Social Technology, and Manager’s Guide to Social Media.
