The Hindu Business Line : Animal lessons for automation

A word for the future that you can’t afford to not know is ‘affordance.’ The word, according to its inventor J.J. Gibson, a psychologist, refers to ‘the range of activities that an animal or person can perform upon an object in the world.’

Affordances are not fixed properties, but they are relationships that hold between objects and agents, explains Donald A. Norman in The Design of Future Things ( www.landmarkonthenet.com).

“Providing effective, perceivable affordances is important in the design of today’s things, whether they be coffee cups, toasters, or Web sites, but these attributes are even more important for the design of future things.”

When devices are automatic, autonomous, and intelligent, we need perceivable affordances to show us how we might interact with them and, equally importantly, how they might interact with the world, he adds.

Going beyond affordances, Norman looks at the world of animals to find how tomorrow’s machines may need to be configured, since communication has to happen both ways between machine and person.

For instance, when learning to ride a horse, you’d know the difference between ‘loose-rein’ and ‘tight-rein’ control. “Under tight reins, the rider controls the horse directly, with the tightness communicating his intention to the horse.

In loose-rein riding, the horse has more autonomy, allowing the rider to perform other activities or even to sleep.”

No rigid compartments, these are, because even in tight-control, ‘the horse can baulk or otherwise resist the commands,’ and in loose-rein control, ‘the person can still provide some oversight using the reins, verbal commands, pressure from the thighs and legs, and heel kicks.’

Norman sees a parallel between the horse and an ‘automobile simulator’ at Braunschweig, Germany, where scientists of NASA’s Langley Research Centre and the Institut für Verkehrsführung und Fahr are exploring ways to enhance human-machine interaction.

“Under tight-rein conditions, I did most of the work, determining the force on the accelerator, brake, and steering wheel, but the car nudged me, this way or that, trying to keeping me on a steady course within the highway’s lane boundaries,” reminisces the author.

Whenever he got too close to the car ahead of him, the steering wheel pushed back, indicating that he should back off. Similarly, if he lagged behind too much, the steering wheel moved forward, urging him to speed up a bit!

“Under loose-rein conditions, the car was more aggressive in its actions, so much so that I could close my eyes and simply let the car guide me through the driving.”

Yet, Norman argues that it is necessary for systems to let the driver select how much control to give away.

“This transition in amount of control is important, for when an emergency arises, it may be necessary to transfer the control very rapidly, without distracting from the attention required to deal with the situation.”

Compelling futuristic read.

Dysfunctional and functional turnover

How does Cisco Systems, which has a reputation for attracting and keeping the best talent, approach employee turnover?

It distinguishes between dysfunctional and functional turnover, explain Jack J. Phillips and Adele O. Connell in ‘Managing Employee Retention’ ( www.shrm.org).

“Employees with a negative rating are either terminated for substandard performance or quit because they see the inevitable consequences of their performance. This is called functional turnover,” the authors elucidate.

“When an employee leaves after receiving a positive rating, it is considered dysfunctional turnover and should be the primary focus of attention of the organisation.”

Elsewhere in the highly instructive book is a discussion of ‘functional’ work settings. “An ideally designed workplace supports productivity, allows employees to communicate effectively, and is attractive.

This does not mean that employees need the largest, or newest, or most expensive work surroundings,” the authors observe.

For example, organisations that value communication may innovatively design ‘collision areas’ where informal discussions occur and employees brainstorm new ideas. “In the last four years, more than 20 CEOs in Internet-related industries have rejected the traditional corner office for proximity to the team,” reveals a study.

Another idea, from the Washington, D.C.-based Greenwell Goetz Architects, which won ‘the American Institute of Architects 200 Honor Award for Outstanding Interiors,’ uses a model of ‘hoteling’ in offices.

“A concierge in the reception area works like a concierge in a hotel by providing scheduling, arranging, and general information… This workplace design is aimed at helping employees remain at work while the organisation helps supply some of the services that employees typically would need outside the workplace.”

Recommended addition to the HR professional’s shelf.

Traffic lights for performance

Searching for ‘a management tool that would give you and all of your executives current information on the health of your organisation and where you stand with respect to achieving your corporate goals’?

Raef Lawson, Toby Hatch, and Denis Desroches offer help in ‘Scorecard Best Practices’ ( www.wiley.com).

The book has chapters on scorecard systems overview, establishing motivation, enabling a supportive organisational environment, system design and implementation.

A crucial question the authors address is the automation of scorecard. Their suggestion is in the affirmative, owing to automation’s advantages.

“Automated scorecard systems offer: scoring and traffic lighting to pinpoint the status of the most important measures and objectives; result and target calculations to automate data entry, to reduce the burden of painstakingly tracking data from people or systems; prebuilt reports to make analysis more efficient; and active alerting and discussion thread capability for improved collaboration.”

These features reduce the time required to understand performance status, which enables employees and managers to focus their efforts on analysing results and responding to issues, the authors note.

“Providing data on a consistent and regular basis increases the likelihood of employees accepting the system and integrating it into their everyday jobs.”

For an urgent study.

Tailpiece

“SMS reads, ‘2b-r-nt-2b’.”

“Too cryptic?”

“Sender is ‘Hml8’!”

dmurali@thehindu.co.in