Tag Archive for: humanness

Make better decisions
Dominique Jaurola

3 tips to make better decisions in every aspect of your life

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Make better decisions. It sounds simple but in practice, it’s not as easy you might think. 

As humans we make more or less 35,000 decisions a day. These decisions can vary from the small things; like what socks to wear; or whether to watch the news, to the bigger choices; will a gap year be detrimental to my career prospects; should we be making environmentally-friendly lifestyle changes; do I go for the big promotion? 

When considering the bigger decisions that we make, both personally and professionally, we know that the outcomes of these decisions have an impact on wellbeing. I loved Barry Schwartz’s great TedTalk about how more choice has made western societies more dissatisfied, rather than making us happier. 

The fundamentals of most strategies for decision-making include objective setting, investigation, establishing options, reacting and evaluating. Many of us already follow this pattern in some form or another, whether consciously or not, from a very young age. And for that reason, I don’t tell you how to make a decision – I want to share how you can make better decisions. Ones that consider all the variables, have maximum impact, and are sustainable in the long run. 

Tip 1. Take a moment to understand the whole issue

The decision you are making may be based on one area and it’s direct impact to you. Take the decision of whether you should go freelance, for example. Going freelance would give you more flexibility and potentially more money.

But like most things relating to us humans, there’s likely to be a series of interconnect points, or systems, that exist around that one topic. Is there a saturation of freelancers in the market? Will new tax rules make it harder to profit from being freelance? Is working by yourself better for your well-being than being in a team?

Understanding the whole system ensures that your ultimate decision is based on the whole issue, not just the pointy bit that is directed at you and your immediate needs.

When considering how human-centered design can help businesses build resilience against COVID-19 uncertainty, Mika Raulas talks about the importance of understanding the core problem. Whether you want to solve a problem or make better decisions, the same principle applies. Your end decision becomes more sustainable when you take into account the whole.

Tip 2. Consider the other perspectives

Who else is interested in this topic at the heart of this decision and why does it interest them? You’ll be seeing and interpreting the topic from one angle but taking the time to understand other points of view gives you a much fuller picture. 

Right now, you have a certain perspective but as you journey down the path that your decision leads you on, it’s pretty likely that your perspective will change and evolve. Someone else, may already be at that point, or have a completely different point of view that makes you consider the whole issue in a different way. Being aware of the different sides to the topic, and understanding why someone thinks that way can save you a lot of effort and surprises.

As an extension of that, take into account the needs of those whom your decision will impact. My blog about how understanding humanness helps you make better decisions goes into this, but essentially a better understanding helps you make better decisions that have the right impact on the people around. 

Tip 3: Be ready for change

We’ve all been there – you make a decision based on the information that you have to hand, but then a new factor emerges that shifts everything. My first two tips can help to prepare for issue-related shifts, but big surprises, whether from the macro-environment or somewhere else, will always, always exist. For example, you enroll in a university course to study philosophy, but your partner is offered a once in a lifetime opportunity in another country. 

And while you can’t plan for every eventuality, you can build a network that helps you understand and evolve your thinking quickly. Whether this is a team of trusted advisors, a repository of materials, or a platform that does all of the above, being prepared means that you can respond to the issues and make better decisions at pace.  

At Hunome, we’ve created a platform that helps our members make better decisions, by allowing them to understand themes holistically, the different perspectives involved and the people who have contributed to them, and real-time evolution of themes. See how Hunome can help you make better decisions by signing up for Hunome today.

A line of people looking at their individual phones
Mika Raulas

Deep social rifts – the negative impact of social media on society

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Something is wrong with the social networks we’re using today. 

The news has been dominated in recent weeks by moves from the big platforms that have made us all question their role in facilitating constructive exchange of opinions and ideas in society. Facebook and Twitter banned President Donald Trump in the wake of civil unrest in Washington. A confusing message regarding WhatsApp’s privacy policy saw millions of users switching to rivals for fear of having their data shared, and resulted in the messaging app backtracking on that change attempt. 

The fact of the matter is that people feel uncomfortable with the far-reaching impact of social media platforms on society. Regardless of whether you agree with censorship, or see the necessity in data-sharing, the question remains – why do we feel so uneasy? 

The impact of the social media advertising model 

Well, social media platforms know everything about us with terrifying precision (for those who haven’t seen the Social Dilemma, what are you waiting for?!). These companies can share the intelligence they gather on users with companies, advertisers who want to target their perfect customers. While this segmentation has its purpose (and has revolutionized the world of sales and marketing), it’s a massive use of resources and these algorithms are not used to benefit the individual using those services but rather the business of the platforms and their clients, the advertisers. It’s also created a very ugly and unwanted byproduct- deep polarization. 

Huge cracks are forming in society. It’s plain to see everywhere, not just in US politics. Covid-19 alone has thrown up many points of contention: vaxxers/anti-vaxxers, mask/no masks, lockdown/herd-immunity, for example. And the impact of social media is speeding along this ‘you’re either with us or against us, there’s no in between’ attitude. For all the benefits we’ve gained from the rise of social media platforms, we’ve lost some quite crucial things: the art of discourse, empathy and understanding. We’ve lost what makes us human. 

Breaking away from the status quo

What can be done about this? Our lives are so entwined with these social media behemoths that it’s hard to see how to breakaway. But perhaps it’s not a question of breaking away, and more a case of putting humanness back in the mix. 

Expecting the platforms of today to change their business models to really serve their customers, the users of the content on their platforms, is difficult if not impossible. Nevertheless, there’s a need for more inclusivity, more of a focus on the collective experience and understanding. 

Platforms that  are truly customer-driven, encourage actual meaningful debate where members respect each other’s perspectives are going to stand out in a world where pontification is rewarded by likes (which gives no context and in itself is problematic, but that’s a topic for another day). By encouraging discussion, our differences become just as valid as our similarities, and we can begin to understand each other, and ourselves. 

Sucks for the advertisers though, right? After all, they’ve built sales pipelines on the data available from social media platforms. Well actually, no. 

Now is the time for change

Businesses are moving towards human-centricity (read my blog from WebSummit to see why some of the biggest names are putting humanness in the heart of their strategy). They want to understand their customers beyond the demographics that are readily available through social advertising. They want to know the human beings behind the buying decision – by understanding the real problems they face, their true desires and concerns, businesses can offer solutions that have a better impact on society as a whole.

We’ve hit a crunch moment. We have a chance to change the direction that humanity is heading in, away from the hostile and deeply divided world and towards something that offers comprehensive understanding. It’s time to fix the negative impact of social media on the fabric of society. Let’s seize the opportunity – individually and collectively. Let’s make sense of humanity together.

Inverted perspective from a glass orb
Dominique Jaurola

Where does perspective come from? – how perspectives can fuel human ingenuity

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At Hunome, we’re in the business of perspectives. We connect them, analyze them, build on them. But where do these perspectives come from? The short answer is our members, but there’s so much more to it than that. 

Starting with human ingenuity

Human ingenuity is the way in which human minds influence how we think, work, play, but also construct relationships, interact with each other. Our ingenuity can cause problems, find solutions to problems, transform things and rationalize thought.

Human ingenuity has long been our competitive advantage but as the world we operate in becomes more complex and rapidly exceeds our intellectual grasp, political scientist Thomas Homer-Dixon pinpoints the ‘ingenuity gap’. As we solve one problem, a new, more complex issue that has not been accounted for emerges. Just look at the societal impact of social media platforms, the polarization of society, the world’s response to Covid-19, to name just a few topical examples.

The issue isn’t the lack of ingenuity, rather than the growing need to broaden our understanding to keep up with the world around us. If we cast the net wider, we catch more fish. 

Forming perspectives

Humans apply complex thought processes to bring together ideas and see the relationships between diverse subjects. We form perspectives by connecting our own internal pool of our emotional response, context from our own experiences, feedback from our senses, with contributions from other humans, the environment around us, and so much more. 

Our perspectives are our points of view and they form our perceptions, our own truth or reality. Once formed, they fuel our ingenuity, enabling us to organize ourselves differently, communicating and making decisions in new ways.

We are constantly processing and understanding the world around us, and applying our learnings. But as if that wasn’t impressive enough as it is, we also have this remarkable ability to understand other peoples’ perspectives. 

Combining perspectives with human ingenuity

We put ourselves in other people’s shoes, taking on their motivations and drivers to understand their perspectives. Human ingenuity then allows us to learn from a situation and respond in a totally different way, by taking on another’s point of view. So much so, that humans actively seek out other perspectives daily in our personal and professional lives. This diversity of thought enriches our ability to collectively comprehend, solve problems, and make decisions. It expands our realm of understanding to encompass that which exists outside of ourselves. 

This is where Hunome comes in. Our platform is designed to help connect perspectives and make sense of any number of themes. Much like humans are able to do internally, perspectives can evolve and topics can be built upon as members collectively add their viewpoints. Analysis enables further insights that deepen our understanding. 

To see how Hunome harnesses perspectives to enhance human ingenuity, sign up for Hunome.

Woman considers notes left by other people
Dominique Jaurola

Why does humanness in decision-making matter?

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The concept of putting humans at the core of our decision-making process is nothing new. From Kellogg development of cereal with feedback from the patients in the late 19th Century, to the introduction of focus groups in the 1940s, we’ve always sought the views of the collective in order to make the right choice going forward. Even now, we scour the internet for other people’s experiences or knowledge so that we can figure out what is right for us. 

Decision-making 1.0 – market research

Humanness in decision making isn’t as simple as just asking a person however. It’s about understanding the quality of being human – what really makes us tick. 

The trouble with many of the qualitative research methods mentioned above is how they relate to actually making the right choices going forward. Many of these methods work in a very short and isolated manner. They often produce the wrong kind of input to longer-term thinking or to areas where things are changing rapidly, and almost never take into account the next new thing that will shift the game. In this world, different styles of inputs are necessary to make unbiased, future-oriented decisions. 

Human bias enables us to understand the world around us and protects us from the unknown. Bias is necessary in a lot of ways and we all exercise many types of bias in our day-to-day lives. The problem lies when you have too many perspectives that have stemmed from the same biases. What you end up with is a type of echo-chamber where actual innovative decisions are replaced with something that is much more one-sided. 

The next challenge we face is gathering and processing information. Granted, the internet has made collecting data much easier, however information is scattered and can lack context. This makes the task of gathering the data that is of actual relevance, then analyzing and extracting understanding a herculean effort. 

But why is this? 

Decision-making 2.0 – tech in decision-making

One reason is our reliance on similar, relevant and related, technology-found ideas of what something looks like. Another is that human ingenuity creates new directions for a whole field.

This means that searching for ‘related’ is not as easy as it sounds. For example, what some may call strategy, is known as business design in the agile and creative world. Those two worlds may never find each other, until the technologies make the connection. 

There’s no doubt that AI makes those connections easier. We’re increasingly using AI to help us make choices in our personal life (think Netflix recommendations – even so, not always the best suggestions). AI is even being used to streamline processes in the workplace for better business decision-making. 

However, while AI’s integration into work processes can result in more effective decision making, there’s no way that an algorithm can build upon information that doesn’t yet exist, reassess rules to take into account the exception, or understand the impact of an unexpected anomaly. That’s where our human ingenuity comes in. 

Decision-making 3.0 – humanness in decision-making

Humans create discontinuities. When we consider what might be, we do not rely on past data alone. When we consider what is in our essence as individuals or systems, our humanness, we utilise our human ingenuity. Sylvain Duranton makes a compelling argument for this in his TedTalk back in September 2019. 

The reality is that even in this modern age, understanding our shared humanness remains fundamental for better decision making, even with all the wonderful messiness that we bring into the process. At Hunome, we want to help the world make better choices. To see how we do this, sign up for Hunome and add your perspectives to the thought networks for multidimensional shared understanding.

Woman considers notes left by other people
Dominique Jaurola

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human skills wanted - blog
Dominique Jaurola

Human skills wanted: pandemic reveals need for humanness in an age of technology

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You can’t teach an old dog new tricks. Old habits die hard. A leopard never changes its spots. We’re pretty much set in our ways if we listen to the old adages, yet a recent report by the World Economic Forum revealed that 50% of all employees will need reskilling by 2025. 

The Fourth Industrial Revolution, the adoption of smart technology in manufacturing and industrial sectors, has been held up as the biggest catalyst for change in recent years as companies adapt to new human/AI workforce structures. However, the Covid 19 pandemic, and it’s subsequent economic impact, not only is accelerating automation, but is also fast-tracking the need for new human skills. 

Skills set show the need for human ingenuity

According to the WEF’s  The Future of Jobs Report 2020, critical thinking and problem solving skills continue to take the top of the list of skills that will grow in prominence in the next five years. Yet 2020 has seen the emergence of new skills such as active learning, resilience, stress tolerance and flexibility. 

Given the rise in technology, it’s interesting that the skills that have emerged this year are distinctly human. 

It goes without saying that if Covid-19 has taught us anything, it’s resilience and flexibility. As a collective, the human race has found a way to adapt and continue in a way it has never done before. The effects of the pandemic have been an unmitigated stress for most people, a trauma for others. The ability to not only adjust our lives to accommodate this, but to also grow from the experience and emerge stronger with a new perspective, is something that a machine could never replicate. It’s awe-inspiring to reflect on and no wonder that these are the human skills that employers want in their employees’ toolkits. 

How to develop human skills

When we look at how we can develop these critical human skills in the coming years, the understanding and acceptance of different perspectives will be paramount. It’s easier to be flexible when you understand that different schools of thought can lead to the same result. Resilience comes more naturally when you take time to understand your place in the bigger picture.

At Hunome, we combine perspectives to create a holistic view on multidimensional themes. People have the ability to access multiple views and experiences so that they can adapt their perspectives – fast-tracking active learning. 

Active learning as a human skill is becoming more and more fundamental across a wide range of industries. Understanding the shift in context that a new piece of information provides, and assessing how this may help solve problems or make decisions, is something that humans have been doing in one form or another for millenia, and is also a methodology of machine learning. While AI is of course adept at processing information and creating desired outputs, the nuance that humans provide is unique and insightful and takes into consideration context that a machine cannot account for.  

Human skills with AI

Yet, machine active learning and human active learning do not need to be mutually exclusive. Augmenting human insights with AI can improve the quality of the active learning process for better decision-making. 

For example, a HR practitioner looking to implement an employee mental health support scheme might search for mental health and productivity on Hunome, and uncover a number of human perspectives on the topic that she can use to build her position. She can then explore the Insights to get further analysis around the subject to strengthen her position – resulting in a better informed initiative.

There’s no doubt that 2020 is the year of disruption, and that the impact this has had on the workforce, and the individuals among them, will require a new set of human skills as we emerge on the other side. And in a post-pandemic world, technology may continue to be the catalyst for change, but with human ingenuity leading technology use, we stand to come out stronger than ever before. Making sustainable, well received decisions, where our humanness is taken into consideration.