Why does technology matter?

Andrew McAfee inverted the normal order of his presentation when he kicked off by asking the audience a question. ‘What have been the biggest stories in human history?’

This is a huge question which provoked an array of responses including evolution, democracy, the invention of wireless technology, the birth of Jesus Christ, the ability to write, the printing press, and the invention of the wheel. All big stories in our collective history, and as Andrew conceded, there is no definitive right or wrong answer to the question.

But from a purely statistical point of view, there is one big story for humankind, explained Andrew. The big story which changed the path of people forever is when we overcame our dependence on our muscles to get things done. We started using machinery, and our population BOOMED as a result of this industrial revolution.

Andrew used a series of simple graphs to illustrate not only the population boom since the industrial revolution, but several other interesting points. The decline in price of computers and digital equipment over time is astonishing. Technology continues to get cheaper and cheaper as demand increases. Looking around the room at the number of people in the session with smartphones and tablets in their hands was clear evidence of this point. Andrew also pointed out that these devices which we all carry round with us are ‘super computers’ in comparison to what earlier generations had access to.

Meanwhile, the spending on IT by companies keeps going up, while spend in other areas declines. The IT economy is on a steady increase, as the appetite for digital gear by both business and individuals appears bottomless.

A big part of the reason behind the trend, explained Andrew, is that businesses are increasingly using technology to beat the competition. And if they'r enot... well they should be!

Andrew introduced us to the word ‘HiPPo’, an acronym for the ‘highest paid person’s opinion’, and explained how the HiPPo is often at the crux of many major business decisions. In most cases the big boss is the boss for a reason, they’ve been right in the past, they’re educated, experienced… there’s a reason they are where they are. And indeed, HiPPos are still an important part of business, however Andrew suggested perhaps they should form the start of the decision-making process, getting the ball rolling, rather than deciding the end point. Business should be turning to the power of modern day science and technology available to us for answers and solutions.

Put simply, it doesn’t matter how smart you are, how good your guess is, whether you’ve done this all before… if you disagree with a scientific or technological experiment, Andrew says, you’re wrong. Where possible, business should aim to become data driven, and to let the data decide, not the HiPPo!

Andrew went on to talk about how technology can help business over mountains by becoming more orchestrated.

The problem which many enterprises find as they increase in size, is that it becomes incredibly difficult to maintain control over every facet of the organisation. Andrew touched on how technology is now exploring new big brother-type capabilities which ensure control.

Andrew also talked about the capability of technology to overcome isolation, to bring pockets of knowledge together. Through blogs, social media, websites and interactive intranets we have the ability to narrate our work, connect with one another and remove fragmentation.

There’s little doubt we’re heading into uncertain and exciting times where technology will continue to disrupt business at an increasing pace. Andrew left us with the advice that technology is not a rising tide which will float all boats… rather it increases competition and differentiates the best from the rest.

Blogpost by Carla Ellerby from the Amplify team @carlaroo