In the run up to the 1st #iandishow, entitled "Is your Culture ready for Robots?", we've been looking at a few articles on the subject of 'Robotic Process Automation' (RPA) to see how the market is responding to the idea that 'Robots' (in any other language, that means 'Software'), will easily automate monotonous tasks and processes in office environments.

 ...In layman's terms, that means, no-more people doing transactional, repetitive and often rule-based processes, typically located in a shared service centre or other 'back-office' environment.

The RPA objective? To attain the cost savings promised (but rarely realised) from the application of ERP systems over the last 20 years.

It seems strange in some respects, that our proposed solution, to computers failing to deliver all that was promised during their original implementation, is to replace core programs or use more, 3rd party computing power, introduced by yet more programmers with little tacit and intuitive experience of our organisations.

Looking at the notion of RPA this way makes it  sound like Einsteins definition of Madness ("Doing the same thing over and expecting a different result") ... but let's look at a few more details around the issue before we start drawing those kind of negative conclusions.

Let's see if we can establish if RPA, or at least the idea of it, is another global consultant led fad, or, the tipping point, at which we'll genuinely see computers performing tasks which have thus far required human intellect... 

Exciting times ahead!

Pacific International, the Lean Executive recruitment specialist based in London and New York are hosting a new initiative to bring the latest thinking and knowledge to market through their #i&ishow each month.

As a partner to this new and exciting initiative, Duxinaroe MD David Bovis will be a regular panel member, talking to the monthly guests about the human factors which underpin successful change, sustainable organisational performance improvement and culture.

A year or two back, Dave Gaster of SSD asked Dux's MD, David Bovis, to write a chapter on the brain and how it adapts in change environments. This week see's the launch of that book and the inclusion of David's chapter within it. Our congratulations go to DG for getting another book published along with our thanks for requesting the contribution. We wish you every success.