AQ - the Automation/AI Quotient

Regardless of your occupation you will work differently in the future as a result of intelligent technologies. Whether the work is physical or mental -- whether repetitive, analytical, or creative -- there is a technology rapidly developing that will change the work you do in ways that we are only now beginning to understand.

In some cases the 'change' will be a complete elimination of the work done today, and a need for you to develop new skills that can contribute to your organization in new ways. In other cases intelligent technologies will augment your work, shifting your focus and contribution toward skills that are still the exclusive domain of people -- collaboration, innovation, critical thinking, and emotional intelligence.

But in either case, how you adapt to the rapidly changing conditions of your work environment will determine how you thrive as these changes develop in the years ahead. And by extension, how an organization survives is dependent upon how all of the people involved in that organization adapt. This is why I have been developing a curriculum to help organizations transform their culture to think automation-first.

As Rajeev Tyagi wrote back in that 2017 article:

The point is, Automation First thinking sets off the light-bulb and allows you to think differently – and to think big – about what’s possible with automation. It creates a new way to articulate business requirements and in so doing redefines and expands the scope of work that can be automated.

In order to transform your organization into this new automation-first mindset, you need to develop the knowledge and skills to allow your employees to adapt to this change. Forrester Research analyst J.P. Gownder has written and spoken extensively about the cultural gap that organizations have that holds them back as they try to move to an operating model that leverages a "hybrid workforce" of people and intelligent technology. In his research papers he refers to the need for improving your organizational "RQ" or "robotics quotient."

In my work on this I have expanded on his definition, embracing his underlying premise of "...optimizing human-machine interactions." Rather than using the narrow term "robotics" however, I have been calling this new capacity for adaptation "AQ" -- A for automation and AI which I see as the broader intelligent technology trend. Robotics itself (whether physical or in a data processing sense) often is too narrowly associated with strict rules based actions.

We are perhaps the most familiar with the concept of "IQ" or "intelligent quotient." This numerical score represents our ability to approximately measure the relative intelligence between different people. Critics would point out that certain types of mental ability -- memorization and comfort taking tests are two examples -- often skew the results from what we might actually think of as "intelligence." And IQ is not a fixed metric -- the results can change over time based on a variety of both environmental influences (nutrition, disease, etc) as well as opportunities and choices (focused study and cognitive training). Nonetheless the tests do offer a useful guide to understanding the relative readiness amongst people to take on different kinds of intellectual tasks.

Similarly the idea of an "EQ" or "emotional quotient" has gained popularity. As a measure of interpersonal and communication skills, EQ can help us understand an individual's capacity for understanding, empathizing, and negotiating with others. Like IQ, tests exist to determine on a relative scale where a person may be currently and many training programs exist to help people improve their EQ.

The concept of AQ is analogous -- it should be used as a measure of an individual's understanding of a work environment in which both people and intelligent technologies can be used together to more effectively achieve the desired outcomes. Depending upon the individual's role in that work environment, different skills are needed. An employee will need skills to adapt to the way work is changing as a result of the new capabilities introduced by technology. A manager will need to understand how to oversee a hybrid workforce of people and intelligent technology. And senior leadership will need to understand how to rethink the way work is done and make the right investments with the necessary governance to implement new work patterns.

As with IQ and EQ there are specific areas where training programs can help improve AQ, and thus help individuals and organizations thrive as our world is changed by technology. As an example, employees might focus on digital literacy programs -- understanding the strengths and limitations of their new technical work partners. Managers could understand how to make sure that adequate communication is happening between people and machines so that each can be an effective partner with the other. And senior leadership will need to develop a clear vision and goals for the use of these technologies in order to prioritize investment. These are just a few examples of the skills that will contribute to an improved automation quotient.

Just a month ago at VentureBeat Transform someone quipped on stage that "the companies that embrace AI now will buy the ones that don't." It may as easily have been said that those that don't embrace AI won't be bought at all because they won't have any value in a market dominated by competitors that have been transformed by these intelligent technologies.

Which side of this divide will you and your organization be on?

If you have an interest in learning more about AQ and the training programs available to your organization, please connect or send a message here on LinkedIn