Have you heard a story recently about the new piece of equipment or technology system that was supposed to make a person's job easier but has only succeeded in making them work harder? Or how about the latest gadget with its self-instruction guide that you still can't understand after the third read? Well don't feel bad because, to coin a phrase, it's the technology, stupid! An awful lot of technology, too much in the opinion of Professor of Human Engineering Kim Vicente, is designed without any consideration of what he labels as the "Human Factor." Technology design teams and engineers work in silos that are narrowly focused on the product to the exclusion of the end user.

Consequently, much of the technology we use is technically sound but human error- prone. In his book, The Human Factor, Vicente cites numerous examples from fields as diverse as aviation and health care where complications occurred, often with life- threatening repercussions, not because the technology was not sound, but rather because humans could not get it to work properly. We gloss over the problem by classifying accidents of this nature as human error. However, it is not human error at all. It is human incapability to master the best practices application of a product or technological system that is too complex for use by anyone but a narrow range of experts. This even extends to expert systems designed for use by experts. Only a very narrow range of experts has the core competencies to take maximum advantage of the system.

There are a number of factors that can and should be taken into consideration in attempting to determine the reason for and full extent of the problem. However, Vicente puts a significant part of the blame on the splitting of learning experiences into two polar groups: science and art. The days of the well-rounded Renaissance Man are over. You are either a techie or humanities person and never the twain shall meet. We no longer have learned people like Adam Smith, the architect of modern economics, who was essentially a moral philosopher. In fact, Smith labeled the discipline he pioneered in inventing as political economy. Economic theory was intertwined with the political and moral philosophy. According to Vicente, he would be truly shocked today to see what his noble discipline monopolized by mathematical monetary theorists to the exclusion of the humanities. Smith derived his genius from being a systems thinker.

Adam Smith, the Scottish economist and author of An Inquiry into the Nature and Cause of the Wealth of Nations, unknowingly became the first systems thinker in 1176 when he explained that the behavior of markets can only be understood by looking at the relationship between buyers and sellers, not by homing in on the buyers and sellers in isolation.

We need to embrace systems thinking in the modern quest for solutions to problems and appreciate that neither technology nor ideology have a lock on the path to the right approach or answer. Politics, human behavior and technology must be intertwined from the outset rather than after the event, as is the custom in many instances today. Engineers and technologists must put the concept of "social" back into science. One of the primary reasons for this present deficiency in holistic thinking is the introduction of the "B" school factor into the decision mix.

Rather than provide engineers with management training, some organization have hired graduates from business schools to oversee the design or operation of technological systems. Because these individuals don't usually understand the underlying technology they've been put in charge of and don't usually consult with technical experts, they have little choice but to apply standard management procedures, regardless of the industry they're managing.

Vicente is far from a pessimist. One of his prestigious appointments is Professor of Human Factors Engineering at the University of Toronto. The tide is on the verge of turning, or rather returning in favor of an integrated approach to product and technological systems design. Many litigation managers who must master the intricacies of e-billing systems and technology in general will no doubt echo the same sigh of relief as many other non-technology professionals in the legal services field and feel that at last the call for user-friendly systems is being more than just heard. It is being listened to.

Quotable Quote

Any attempt to explain why technology is spinning out of control must take three other observations into account. The first is that technical stuff is frequently too complex for people to manage, creating confusion at best and potentially devastating consequences at worst. The second is that the "softer" aspects of technological systems (work schedules, team coordination, and so on) can also make people's lives more difficult than they need be, contributing to the chaos. And thirdly, to top it off, our problems with technology are only getting worse, not better. How did this threefold pattern come about?

Kelly Critique

Every litigation manager frustrated with claims about the merits of the latest technology should consider giving Kim Vicente's book a read. Unlike some of the technology one encounters, the book itself is very readable. The author, who has an extremely well recognized and successful leading edge external career as a human factors engineering consultant, provides interesting anecdotes as examples of technology not working because of flawed systems thinking. Some are scary, such as when he provides examples of how flawed technology in health care and aeronautics, two fields in which he appears to have in depth insider knowledge, have caused minor catastrophes. The book does an excellent job of drawing a reader's attention to a realization that we are now gradually all coming to terms with: technology in its own right is not the solution. More importantly he provides a glimpse into where those solutions lie. The one weakness in the book is its focus on health care, an important field but not a universal theme.

Kelly Rating: Content 7/10; Style and Presentation; 8/10