Jacqueline Novogratz Identifies Several Key Qualities of Leadership
Jacqueline Novogratz, founder and CEO of Acumen Fund, identifies several key qualities of an “indispensable” leader/individual/team member. They include things like presence, humility, being proactive and engaged, willingness to listen and learn, able to question assumptions, etc. She also identifies how the organizational culture can help foster the development of indispensable people.
What’s amazing is how she’s able to concisely articulate her thoughts in less than a minute and a half – now that’s verbal parsimony!
Watch for yourself and see if you aren’t at least a little inspired.
Jacqueline Novogratz on how to recognize a linchpin from Seth Godin on Vimeo.
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Cumulative Knowledge and Progress in Human Factors
The 2010 issue of the Annual Review of Psychology includes an article entitled, “Cumulative Knowledge and Progress in Human Factors.” It reviews the current state of the science of Human Factors. Eight earlier reviews (1958, 1960, 1963, 1966, 1976, 1985, 1989, & 1993) were published with the title of Engineering Psychology – a term once used to describe the discipline, but which has largely been abandoned in favor of Human Factors. Three additional reviews on similar topics have also been published – two on Human-Computer Interaction (1997 & 2003) and one on Cognition in Organizations (2008).
The review is conducted through the lens of human information processing, but alternative approaches were also touched upon including the ecological approach and activity theory. Some of the topics covered include:
- Augmented Cognition
- Distributed Cognition
- Hedonomics
- Macroergonomics
- Multimodal Interfaces
- Neuroergonomics
- Situation Awareness
- Ubiquitous Computing
- Vigilance
The authors close by raising several questions that could be addressed in future reviews:
- What are the limits of neuroergonomics and augmented cognition for providing online adaptations of interfaces and tasks that will benefit operators’ performance?
- How can automation be incorporated most effectively into air traffic management and other large-scale systems to improve their effectiveness?
- In what ways can designs of products and systems be improved to satisfy the needs of older adults and other special populations?
- What human factors issues need to be addressed in the use of future technologies (e.g., nanotechnology)?
- How can cognitive architectures based on general information-processing principles best accommodate situational factors?
- In what ways can large amounts of information of varying reliability be presented to improve users’ decision making?
- How are design guidelines for universal access to be balanced with those that are culturally specific?
- How best can biological, behavioral, and cultural approaches to human factors be integrated?
References
Proctor, R.W., & Vu, K.L. (2010). Cumulative knowledge and progress in human factors. Annual Review of Psychology, 61, 623-651.
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Discoveries and Breakthroughs Inside Science
The Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, in cooperation with the American Institute of Physics, offers Discoveries and Breakthroughs Inside Science to its membership and new stations across the US. The 90 second stories are produced to increase awareness of how science impacts everyday life on a variety of topics including engineering, mathematics, and technology. Currently, the archive includes 61 stories – many of which are very interesting.
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Idaho Technology Council
Last month, the Idaho Technology Council was officially launched. According to their website:
“The Idaho Technology Council’s mission is to become the premier member-driven technology association dedicated to fostering the growth of technology companies in the state of Idaho, primarily in the areas of information technology, agriscience, and energy. The ITC provides a valuable forum for industry, research, educators, investors, and government throughout the state. It also advocates for creating a strong technology ecosystem and a high quality, high paid workforce.”
As an Idaho native that left the region for six years and returned to Boise in 2006, I applaud such an effort and hope that the ITC makes great strides toward attaining their mission. Moreover, as a human factors and ergonomics professional that assists companies with developing technology that better fits the needs of people, I see this as a great opportunity to step forward and provide support where possible.
It’s going to take an association that leverages the widest possible range of local talent to truly assist the many fledgling (and established) technology companies in the area. In the long run, that type of multidisciplinary approach will assist both the companies involved and the wider community as a whole. And that’s the type of sustainable advantage Idaho needs.
Individuals interested in learning more can check out the following sources:
- “My Thoughts on the Idaho Technology Council” by Mark Solon of Highway 12 Ventures
- “Group Forms to Drive Growth in “Innovation Economy’”by Zach Hagadone of the Idaho Business Review
- “Boise Joins the Idaho Technology Council”by Bethann Stewart of the Idaho Statesman
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Human Factors: The Possible Future by Sidney Dekker
As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, Sidney W. A. Dekker has identified some “hard” truths that human factors and ergonomics practitioners need to face as the discipline moves into the future. Specifically, in his book “Ten Questions about Human Error: A New View of Human Factors and Human Error,” he states:
Technological change gave rise to human factors and system safety thinking. The practical demands posed by technological changes endowed human factors and system safety with the pragmatic spirit they have to this day. But pragmatic is no longer pragmatic if it does not match the demands created by what is happening around us now. The pace of sociotechnological change is not likely to slow down any time soon. If we think that World War II generated a lot of interesting changes, giving birth to human factors as a discipline, then we may be living in even more exciting times today. If we in human factors and system safety keep doing what we have been doing, simply because it worked for us in the past, we may become one of those systems that drift into failure. Pragmatics requires that we too adapt to better cope with the complexity of the world facing us now. Our past successes are no guarantee of continued future achievement. (p. xv)
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