We’ve had two conversations recently which reminded us of an important truth. The first was with a newly appointed “Head of Metaverse” at a large IT company. The second was with an HR Director of a fast-growing financial services company.
Both made the same point about using technology, but used very different words. Both had different challenges, but both knew technology was only any good if it supported people and helped to change culture. Both of them were wise enough to know that there were ‘issues underneath their presenting issues.
When we started this company, we used to talk about an equation NT+OP=EOP. In other words, if you simply add New Technology to an Old Process, you will simply get an Expensive Old Process.
The metaverse allows us to rethink how we engage with people online, make improvements, communicate differently – using imagery as well as words, for example. Finding ways to express how we feel about something. And what different solutions might address the challenges of diversity and inclusion? How might tech be used to get more women, more neuro-diverse and more people of ethnic minorities into leadership roles?
And that reminded us of a 2019 article in Harvard Business Review. It talks about using technology to transform the act and the impact of coaching. It mentions us too – using visualisation tools to build a richer picture of what we’re saying (and not saying).
It’s a couple of years old now, but still worth a read.