It has been too long since I posted here, did I lose interest (no) or time (well, yeah)?  To be honest, communicating the value of business automation got the best of me, there is so much to do.  From meetings with customers to creating compelling demos to speaking with industry leaders and analysts alike, I did not come back and make time here to share.

This was a mistake and generated two epiphanies as June comes to a close: 1) sharing is important, more important than we often realize and 2) both individual and team based business automation have impact.  Let’s unpack those ideas:

1. Sharing: defined in a more traditional sense as “experiencing with others” (or a modern/trending definition as “posting on a social media platform, such as a blog!)”, I feel strongly this must be two-way.  When I benefit from other’s insights by learning and improving myself, I am indebted to share those insights myself.  When I share anything (insight or fact, statement or opinion), I hope that my audience will return that share (especially if it is to disagree or review what I said because they have their own opinion!).  We are not alone in the animal kingdom here, many animals share.  All too often I feel the world misplaces its drive to share, to work together and solve common challenges.
2. Individual and Team: focused on specific opportunities in my business automation life, I delivered great strides for teams (companies, organizations, governments).  This was fulfilling and valuable.  I did not focus enough on automation for individuals (myself or teammates) and this made for a long road (and lonely at times).  If we expand our focus from what is in front of us to also include what is down the road a day, week or month, we will produce great business value over time.  I find the idea of Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) comes up often in (and out) of my business automation life and is another viewpoint that the world seems to misplace.

So what can we (what should we) do?  That is too broad, allow me to stick to what I will do.

• I will remember the long term, checking that what I do now will be reusable whenever possible for as long as is feasible.
• I will spend the time (however brief) to model in an effort to communicate what I find valuable.
• I will focus on both “the greater good” and “individual happiness”
• I will expand my communication sphere and keep it two way, listening and sharing

I believe strongly that business automation will bring about change (yes, that means some jobs will no longer be available) and innovation (new jobs will be created). As Jacques Bughin mentioned in Why AI Isn’t the Death of Jobs, “…companies using AI to also drive innovation are more likely to increase head count than reduce it.” I also believe that business automation gives individuals the time we need to get more done, more checked off our list; our lists are long so what if we could automate the boring items and get working on those that required our attention? Come here, robots, and help me with the busy work!