Idea Cast Paper 1

Managing the People and Organizations

Technology + Innovation:
Organizations in the Era of
Change
By: Diego Benítez Concha
September 17, 2019
Boston, MAS
D’amore-McKim School of Business
New technologies are re-shaping not just how we communicate and interact with each

other, but it is re-shaping our minds. The world, and how we understand it, is changing

faster than ever before. For many, the conditions of life in this era are better than ever

before, but paradoxically, it seems that we are, at the same time, more avid for change

and transformation.

In his book "Everyday Chaos" David Weinberger explores the idea of complexity, and

how Artificial Intelligence technologies, like Machine and Deep Learning, are helping us

in a world that it is too complex to understand. Machines are making us realize that we

don't know as much as we thought. They have become in the Ygritte of our Jon Snow

selves, continually telling us: You know nothing (GOT reference).

For many people, this can be overwhelming. On the three podcasts about technology,

they mentioned fear or misunderstanding about AI. People are frightened that robots are

coming for their jobs and are terrified about this new world. But we all have to recognize

that, even if we want or not, this is how the world is starting to work. One of Weinberger's

premises is that we must embrace this change, instead of fearing it. I think that most

companies have taken this approach, and by doing that, they are opening a new world of

possibilities. Embracing chaos is making them more open-minded and more innovative.
Tech-related companies are often referred to as the companies to follow up and emulate.

For me, what they have done amazingly is that they have realized that innovation is a

hard process. By using machines to help us with some of the tasks we do, we are not just

increasing our time and effort to do more things that matter. We are also giving them tasks

in areas that can be affected by our unconsciousness biases. One of the areas where I

think we can use AI for the better is in HR, specifically in recruitment.

On the "Harsh reality of innovative companies" podcast, Gary Pisano mentions that

people must be the most important resource for any company, and #1professionals must

be a top priority. I agree with this and I believe that this is an area where HR teams often

have errors of judgment when they select candidates and applicants. But the main

problem is that it might happen even if they are trying to be objective. There are just things

that we cannot control.

On the book "Thinking Fast and Slow, Daniel Kahneman talks about a recruitment

process he developed for the Israeli army. Normally, as part of the process, the

recruitment team interviewed candidates for an assessment of personality based on the

interviewer's opinion. This had significant weight to match the candidate to a specific

branch: artillery, infantry, armor and so on. But after some years of being selected, many

soldiers didn't feel very comfortable in their position. The interview process wasn't helping

to match the best area with the candidate. Then, Kahneman came up with a process in

which the interviewers would evaluate specific personality characteristics, and score

each, separately. He was standardizing the method.

Kahneman recalls that there were some concerns, and even someone told him: "You are

turning it into robots". He was trying to reduce the weight of the people's biased opinions

to get the best outcome possible. This attempt could be replicated with the help of AI

systems to improve the outcomes of the selection decision and process.

I think that combining the power of machine learning, a process in which a program uses

an algorithm based on data to predict an outcome, with the recruitment process of HR,

would help managers to make better decisions. Many problems could be solved if this

process improves. This is an achievable attempt that can be possible with today’s tools

and organizations are able to try it, if they want to do it. This would only take a small

amount of effort that can have a lot of impact.

Companies should embrace these new technologies and methods, end even look for new

and more ambitious ones. They should be bold and creative and fit with what Beth

Cormstrock says on the podcast #648. The key approaches to developing a culture of

innovation are:

to give yourself and your team permission to imagine and try new things

10% of the time of the team should be invested to get out and discover new things, see

patterns, trends.

Navigate risk, explore new ideas.

Including Artificial Intelligence systems like machine learning in processes as recruitment

can be fruitful for companies, but it doesn't end there. The advantage of chaos and

complexity is that they create opportunities or reveal them. We have just scratched the

possibilities as Erik Brynolfsson points out on the podcast "How AI is Already Changing

Business".

AI can help us focus more on more important issues, such as the office environment. This

matter can make or break many projects of any organization. I don't agree with all the

ideas that Jason Fried explains on the "Restoring Sanity to the Office" podcast. I

particularly liked the "No-Talking Thursday" idea. Replicate the environment of a library

for one day is an amazing insight because this is where students go when they want to

concentrate and work for real. I also find appealing to reduce the number of meetings. I

believe that having too many reunions, have a counter-effect in productivity.

The ideas that I'm not sure about them are the ones regarding following a full self-driven

managing style. Let me explain myself. I share the idea that each employee should have

the responsibility and seriousness to do their functions in time and place. My experience

tells me the opposite because I have had experiences where people don't commit and

don't act professionally. The harsh truth is that not all people are fit for this type of

organizations.
However, I do think that this organization can be plausible if the recruitment is modified

helped with AI systems. I think this can create a virtuous cycle and I think this is a matter

of time.

Technology and innovation and highly connected. If you search for "technology innovation

business book" in Amazon it shows me 30,000 results. It is not uncommon of the Top 10

NYT Bestsellers books, at least one is about innovation. We cannot understand one

without referring to the other. They also one characteristic; they both help us to change

(hopefully for the better). We are living in an era of continuous evolution and revolution.

We must embrace and look for transformation.