Leadership development and technology
Ain’t technology grand? You’ve got more computer power in your smartphone than the Apollo 11 Lunar Lander. Not only that, the future’s so bright you’ve got to wear shades. Consider this from Barry Stern, Ph.D.
“It’s an amazing time! HR Technology is THE enzyme acting upon both our imagination and our marketplace. Data visualization and predictive analytics, coupled with the focus on curation, social, video, and mobile are reshaping our mission and amplifying our potential for impact.”
Mark Twain was right: “History does not repeat, but it does rhyme.” Technology is the key to the bright future just around the corner, just like it’s always been.
We always see the possibilities as inevitabilities that will come soon
Since the time of the first computers people have been predicting “The Great Teaching Machine.” That’s the computer that would do all the teaching and do it better than those limited capacity humans.
Consider this from the May 25, 1958 edition of Arthur Radebaugh‘s classic futuristic comic strip “Closer Than We Think.”
“Special machines would be ‘geared’ for each individual student so he could advance as rapidly as his abilities warranted. Progress records, also kept by machine, would be periodically reviewed by skilled teachers, and personal help would be available when necessary.”
Sounds good, eh? So why hasn’t it happened over the last sixty-plus years?
Leadership development is a people game
Computers can help. Sophisticated software and big data can help. But leadership development is about people and people skills. So far at least we don’t have computers that can replace human perception and judgment in leadership development.
The train of thought for this post started rolling when I saw a TV ad about how IBM’s Watson can help a teacher in the classroom. Watson has all kinds of wonderful analytical things to offer. The teacher wants to know how to keep the kids quiet. Watson doesn’t have an answer for that. That’s human stuff.
To quote Arno Penzias: “Even the most sophisticated technology is useless without human judgment and vision to direct an enterprise toward its goals.”
