Category: Psychology

AI and trust…

Posted on by The Information Badger in AI, Information Technology, Psychology, social media

Misinformation, disinformation, scams, and questionable videos have been commonplace aspects of social media for years. The Badger, like many, has become distrustful of content pushed to him by algorithms because normally it is not what it appears or purports to be. Three typical examples of content that’s helped to fuel the Badger’s distrust are as follows. The first is spectacular, obviously fake, video of shipping and aircraft incidents that put Hollywood movies to shame. The second is content from activist or political groups that criticise or parody others and promise a better future. Activist and political groups are unreliable and frequently blinkered with short memories. The third is incessant clickbait. Life’s too short to waste time clicking such links. Putting it diplomatically, you can tell by now that the Badger’s trust in what’s pushed to his social media feeds is not high.

AI, of course, is increasingly helping the producers of this content that’s led to this erosion of trust. As this report from the University of Melbourne in Australia highlights, there’s a complex relationship between AI adoption and trust. It reports that while 66% of its survey respondents use AI regularly and believe in its benefits, less than a half (46%) trust the AI they use. The Badger aligns with this finding. He’s an occasional user of AI, but he doesn’t trust it. This ‘trust gap’ – as the report highlights – is a critical challenge for AI’s wider adoption.

Reflecting on this has led the Badger to two conclusions. The first was that since anyone can create content with AI tools, it’s inevitable that the volume and sophistication of misinformation, disinformation, scams, and questionable video content in social media feeds will increase further. Soon the question to really ask yourself about social media feeds will no longer be ‘what’s fake?’… but ‘what’s real?’  The second conclusion was that this, society’s huge energy bill for AI, and its unsustainably high stock market valuations, are widening rather than closing the Badger’s ‘trust gap.’

AI tools are here to stay, but as the report above points out, the biggest challenge for AI is trust. As the common adage highlights, trust is the easiest thing in the world to lose, and the hardest thing in the world to get back. At present, it doesn’t feel as if AI is winning the battle for our trust. The Badger’s current overall feeling about the question of trust is nicely summed up by this passage from J.K. Rowling’s book ‘Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets’. ‘Ginny!’ said Mr. Weasley, flabbergasted. ‘Haven’t I taught you anything? What have I always told you? Never trust anything that can think for itself if you can’t see where it keeps its brain?’  For the Badger, the last sentence of this passage, written over a decade ago, gets to the nub of the AI and trust issue…

Identifying the cleverest person in the room…

Posted on by The Information Badger in Business, Information Technology, Leadership, Learning, Meetings, Project Management, Psychology

IT professionals have experienced rapid innovation, constant engineering process evolution, progressive professionalism and quality improvement, and the commoditisation of technology and services over the last five decades. As an IT professional, the Badger’s worked with many clever and intelligent leaders, managers, and technical people who thrived on this continual dynamic change. Clever and intelligent people have always been at the heart of IT, but clever people don’t always have the greatest intelligence, and vice versa!

While fixing a dysfunctional project decades ago, the Badger had to attend a meeting involving the company’s Managing Director (MD) and other senior company staff and their opposite numbers from the customer to decide the project’s future. It was the Badger’s first time attending such a senior-level meeting. During the pre-meeting briefing, the MD sensed the Badger’s nervousness and reassured him that others would be doing the talking. As we entered the room containing the customer’s team, the MD winked at the Badger and whispered, ‘Tell me afterwards, who’s the cleverest person in the room?’  The meeting was difficult, but it concluded with agreement on a way forward. Deciding on the cleverest person in the room was also difficult. Afterall, how do you tell who is cleverest in a room of clever and intelligent people?

After the meeting, the MD playfully repeated the question and the Badger answered with what he thought the MD expected, namely that it was the MD! They chuckled, shook their head, said it was one of the customer’s team, and then went on to tell the Badger that cleverness and intelligence are different, but related, traits and that he should understand the difference to judge people and situations well. Cleverness is about speed of thought, ingenuity, emotional insight, adaptability, and creative problem-solving, while intelligence is about deep understanding and learning capacity. Clever people can think quickly, improvise, and solve problems in novel or unconventional ways, characteristics that are valuable in dynamic situations like debates, negotiations, or tricky interpersonal circumstances. Intelligent people, however, can acquire, understand, and apply knowledge in one or more domain, characteristics that are valuable in the likes of scientific research, planning, and the mastering of new disciplines. Clever people can be intelligent, and intelligent people can be clever, but the cleverest person in the room is always the person who has the best blend of both traits.

Learning more about the distinction between cleverness and intelligence over the years has been extremely useful. Since people are at the heart of the operations of any organisation, learning more about the difference not only arms you to pick out the cleverest person in the room, but also changes your perspective of those with impressive job titles who, the Badger’s learned from experience, are often unlikely to be the cleverest person in a room of other clever and intelligent people!

Victima non sum; victor sum…

Posted on by The Information Badger in Information Technology, Meetings, Opinion, Psychology, Training

It can be perplexing when you encounter someone in an organisation who seems to take great joy in causing you discomfort or embarrassment. There are, of course, meetings in any organisation that can be challenging because you are accountable for a project or business stream (for example), but these are usually conducted professionally and respectfully rather than with a primary objective to enjoy personal discomfort and embarrassment. It’s inevitable, however, that you will sometimes encounter an individual who enjoys creating discomfort and embarrassment as part of exerting their dominance. It’s an unpleasant dynamic to experience, especially in front of others, but it’s a dynamic that can reveal lots about the perpetrator.

Why do some individuals clearly enjoy making others uncomfortable and embarrassed? Well, they often have an underlying insecurity and use the creation of discomfort and embarrassment to exert their dominance, control, and superiority. Sometimes they use it as a pre-emptive defence against being embarrassed themselves. Sometimes, of course, they just lack emotional intelligence and are completely oblivious to the impact of their behaviour! As the popularity of reality TV shows illustrate, enjoying the discomfort of others is not unusual because drama draws attention.

How do you handle someone who enjoys making you feel uncomfortable or embarrassed? Firstly, draw on any assertiveness training you’ve had. It can be very helpful. Secondly, trust yourself. Take a deep breath or two, don’t get flustered, speak calmly and thoughtfully, and don’t be defensive. This helps preserve your dignity and shift the power dynamic. Thirdly, assert your boundaries. Signal that you will not tolerate interactions that you feel are malicious, unnecessarily personal, or bullying. Don’t be frightened of getting up and leaving the interaction if necessary.

The Badger was recently approached through a mutual acquaintance to meet two directors of a small company who were seeking advice about addressing problem IT projects. One, the CEO, was a gruff, volatile, egotistic character who belittled the Badger’s experience and ridiculed every answer he gave to questions. The Badger became uncomfortable, embarrassed, and – yes – quietly angry. The CEO tabled the monthly financial status numbers for a project and asked for a comment. The Badger glanced at it and said the project was failing! ‘Rubbish’ riposted the CEO. The Badger calmly rose from his seat, uttered ‘victima non sum, victor sum’, and ended the meeting.

The other director left the room too, apologized for the CEO’s behaviour, and asked how the Badger knew the project was failing. The Badger explained. It transpired that everyone knew it was failing, apart from the project sponsor, the CEO, who was in denial! The Badger declined the director’s plea to become their advisor. Just remember, when someone enjoys making you uncomfortable or embarrassed, keep calm, trust yourself, and keep ‘victima non sum, victor sum’ – I am not the victim, I am the victor – in mind…

Getting an IT job if you have Asperger Syndrome…

Posted on by The Information Badger in autism, Human Resources, Information Technology, Leadership & Management, Psychology, Recruitment, Training

Everyone has unconscious bias because it’s an inherent part of how our brain works. Unconscious bias stems from our brain’s natural tendency to categorize and make quick decisions based on our experiences, culture, and upbringing. Mature companies know about unconscious bias and draw attention to it in their staff training programmes, especially those relating to the interviewing, management, and leadership of people. They know that awareness of unconscious bias is important to ensuring that individuals make good, properly objective, decisions. Unconscious bias often raises its head during the interviewing and recruitment of new staff, but most companies emphasise their fair treatment of people with a disability during these processes. But is that actually the reality?

The son of one of the Badger’s long-standing friends was made redundant 8 months ago and they are still working hard to find new employment. They have Asperger Syndrome, a development disorder considered to be on the mild end of the autism spectrum. Before redundancy, they worked for more than a decade at their employer’s data centre as a software developer, technical whiz, and go-to technical problem-solver. They were made redundant as a result of a takeover by a bigger company. This led to the closure of the data centre which was on a small business park now to be developed for housing. What’s made the Badger’s nose twitch is the difficulty that someone with Asperger’s, excellent IT skills, a good work record, great experience, and a strong desire to continue working is having because, as they describe it, ‘I never seem to get through the front-end recruitment processes to talk to anyone who can appreciate my IT technical skills and experience’.

One of many powerful points in last year’s Buckland Review of Autism Employment  is ‘Despite their wish to work, the latest official statistics show that only around 3 in 10 working age autistic disabled people are in employment, compared with 5 in 10 for all disabled people and 8 in 10 for non-disabled people’. Unless you are Elon Musk, who revealed in 2021 that he has Asperger Syndrome, the odds of getting employed when you have the condition are not high. Unconscious bias in companies or individuals will never be fully eradicated, but the Badger senses that there’s something in modern recruitment processes that don’t give those with Asperger a proper chance. For all the positive messaging from companies about diversity and fairness, the reality seems different.

Today’s world needs those with proven IT skills and a strong work ethic whether they have Asperger’s or not. Something seems amiss, and the Badger has the words uttered by a speaker at a training course he attended many years ago rattling around in his mind, namely ‘A disability isn’t a barrier to working, discrimination is’. The words seem as true today as they were then.

Looking into the eyes of…a politician…

Posted on by The Information Badger in Delivery, Human Resources, Information Technology, IT Project Management, Leadership, Leadership & Management, Project Management, Psychology

Most people in the UK workforce never get to look deeply into the eyes of a government minister. The Badger, however, first did just that some decades ago. The Secretary of State for Trade and Industry at the time visited one of the Badger’s employer’s offices for the type of ‘understanding what we do’ session that sometimes produce snippets on television news. At the time, the Badger was leading his company’s development of a key IT system at the heart of an important major programme within this minister’s remit. The day before the visit, the Badger’s boss told him to attend in case they wanted to discuss progress with the programme. The timing was inconvenient because the IT system was just a few days into a crucial testing activity, but attending was obviously the right thing to do.

The Badger duly arrived early the next morning at the office hosting the visit. The minister and their entourage arrived mid-morning, slightly later than expected, and the company CEO took them on a tour of the building and a number of demonstrations  prepared by local project teams. As they were shown around, the minister hardly smiled. They appeared distant and disinterested, and they spent more time talking to individuals in their entourage than those they were meeting. As the tour concluded, the CEO beckoned the Badger over and introduced him to the Secretary of State as the person delivering the key IT system at the heart of their programme. The Secretary of State shook the Badger’s hand, and while doing so, they locked eyes with the Badger’s and coldly asked ‘Will the system be delivered on time?’ without blinking. ‘Yes’, the Badger answered truthfully. They instantly turned away and asked the CEO about the arrangements for lunch! Immediately after this fleeting interaction, the Badger reflected on what he’d sensed from looking into the eyes of this politician.

Eyes are often called the ‘windows to a person’s soul’. If that’s the case, then this politician had no soul! There had been no flicker of interest, just a constancy of optical contact that was cold, uncomfortable, intimidating, and empty. While the Badger knew that politicians, like many business leaders, are often trained to maintain a certain demeanour, he concluded, right or wrong, that this individual’s personal attributes were unattractive and distrustful because they really didn’t have a soul!

Over the years since, the Badger’s often looked deeply into the eyes of politicians and business leaders. He’s come to realise that some do indeed have a soul, because their eyes broadcast confidence, competence, interest, inspiration, and trust. He’s observed that those with such attributes tend to have lengthy, successful, leadership careers, but those that don’t have tended to falter. So, never avoid direct eye contact with politicians and leaders because, as Al Pacino said in the movie Scarface, ‘The eyes, Chico, never lie’…

To stay on X, or not to stay on X…that is the question

Posted on by The Information Badger in Psychology, Railways, social media, Technology

It’s rare these days for the Badger to travel by train, but recently he journeyed on one into London. Unexpectedly, the journey helped him make a decision, one that he’s been cogitating on more than six months! That decision, in case you’re wondering, doesn’t relate to this form of public transport, the specific journey, the extortionate cost of the ticket, or the quality or reliability of the rail service. It related to whether the Badger continues to have a presence on X, formerly Twitter, or not.

In contrast to when the Badger was a regular commuter into London, a third of the seats in the carriage were empty throughout the journey and no one stood in the aisles or doorways. As the train moved smoothly between stations, the Badger was reminded of how easy it is to overhear the conversations of strangers, and how doing so can influence your own thoughts. The Badger wasn’t thinking about X at all on boarding the train, but by the time he disembarked he’d made a firm decision about retaining a presence on X or not. The train journey had unexpectedly facilitated the taking of the decision, but it was observing and listening to a group of three strangers, two men and a woman in their mid-to-late twenties, which spawned the thoughts that tipped the outcome in one direction.

The group stared at their smartphones throughout the whole journey, and when they conversed with each other they never diverted their attention from their devices. There was no eye contact in their conversations, and their verbal exchanges revolved around reading something on X, drawing each other’s attention to what they’d read,  tweeting something critical or provocative in response, and then complaining if someone in the virtual world countered with something they disagreed with. The group were clearly avid X users and seemed like anonymous keyboard warriors rather than thoughtful and objective contributors. The Badger felt that they were really always talking to their devices rather than verbally conversing with each other, and what he observed and overheard surfaced the question that he’d been cogitating on for months, namely ‘Should the Badger retain a presence on X or not?’  The answer he came to is ‘Not’.

A few days later, the Badger withdrew his presence on X. It’s no loss. Life goes on happily without it and the Badger doesn’t feel he’s missing anything. The observation of strangers on the train journey gave the Badger the nudge that he needed. Major brands have since been pausing their advertising on X and the future of the platform looks questionable. Mr Musk and an army of anonymous X keyboard warriors will disagree, but what’s X’s unique selling point for the individual in these days of rampant misinformation, disinformation, scams and abuse? Perhaps the Badger should take the train more often…

Leadership; never, never, never give up…

Posted on by The Information Badger in Information Technology, IT Project Management, Leadership & Management, Life, Psychology, Training

In May 1940, Winston Churchill became Prime Minister to lead the nation through World War 2. As this old item on leadership highlights, he was a ‘chubby, stoop-shouldered, funny faced man…and political has-been’ whose career in politics had been patchy. Nevertheless, his leadership proved to be just what the nation needed. On this death, his state funeral on 30th January 1965 was watched on television by over 350 million people around the world.  Televisions and global communication at the time was, of course, rudimentary compared with the norm today. A very young Badger was among that TV audience, watching black and white pictures of the funeral with his parents on an old Bush television with thermionic valve circuitry in the corner of the sitting room.

Little was said, but at one point the Badger’s sombre father leant over from his armchair and said ‘Son, remember Mr Churchill’s words – never, never, never give up. They’ll  stand you in good stead through life’. Those words have never faded in the Badger’s memory, and they came to the fore again last weekend when a visiting cousin asked the following over a family meal – ‘Do you think your career as a leader was due to being born a leader, or due to the training you received?’  The Badger told his cousin, a talented artist, that it was both, and that although much is written about the attributes needed to be successful leaders (just Google the subject), there’s no simple answer to whether leaders are born or trained. Psychologists signal that leaders are born with some relevant attributes but always need training to develop others.

An entertaining discussion unfolded, and we chortled when the Badger’s wife noted that Winston Churchill was evidence that you can’t tell if someone is a leader from just the way they look! The Badger’s cousin was interested not only in the Badger’s view of key leadership attributes gleaned from his experience in the IT industry, but also whether they derived from inherent personality or training. The Badger quickly summarised his view of the most important leadership attributes as integrity, rationality, objectivity, an ability to remain positive with a ‘can do’ attitude in the toughest of circumstances, and a focus and determination to get things done in a way which energises others. The Badger added that he felt these attributes come from personality and normally come to the fore from being exposed to new or challenging experiences in life and at work. If you are never exposed to new things, then you’ll never know if you can be a leader! Training alone never makes a successful leader.

Remembrance Day is a few days away. Churchill’s leadership is an apt reminder that you can be a leader and handle any difficult situation if you have an inherent personality and mindset which has ‘never, never, never give up’ at its heart.

Expect the unexpected; when the unexpected happens, respond rather than react…

Posted on by The Information Badger in Business, Delivery, IT Project Management, Leadership & Management, Project Management, Psychology

The very first Project Management training course the Badger attended early in his IT industry career seemed of questionable merit. It was a residential course for Project Managers drawn from across all the business sectors in which his company  operated. Attendees arrived on a Sunday afternoon and ultimately departed mid-afternoon on the following Wednesday. At the time, it was common for people to be actively performing a Project Manager role before attending any associated training course, and so everyone on the course was already actively managing software and systems projects under a variety of contractual arrangements.

Most of the course sessions focused on the process and practice of managing a delivery/development lifecycle, risk, finances, and the basics of contracts and change control.  The format was rather dry but provided some useful reminders. At the end of the course, however, most attendees questioned whether being away from their projects had been a useful use of their time. There were, however, two overwhelmingly positive points of feedback, namely a) the usefulness of meeting peers and sharing experiences, and b) the closing, hour-long, Q&A session during which a senior business leader answered wide ranging questions from attendees.

Whilst the Badger came away rather ambivalent about this course, it had provided a useful reminder that Project Management is as much about people, as it is about structure, lifecycles, processes and practices. In fact, the primary thing that has stayed with the Badger from the course ever since are the wise words of the senior business leader in the closing Q&A session. When asked to give one piece of advice that everyone present should take on board, they said ‘Expect the unexpected, and when the unexpected happens, respond rather than react’. They explained that no one can avoid the unexpected, that some people are better at dealing with it than others, and that some people react emotionally, feel anger, panic and fear, become agitated, and initiate  knee-jerk moves to action that compound matters and alienate others.  Others respond rather than react. They stay calm, focus on the facts and what they can control, assess the options before progressing a plan of action, and unify and encourage those around them.  The business leader told the audience to remember to respond rather than react.

Throughout his career, the Badger encountered many leaders and managers who had to deal with the completely unexpected. Many reacted rather than responded ! This was a constant reminder that everyone is different, and that being a leader or manager doesn’t provide immunity to the core traits of your personality. Perhaps that first Project Management course was of more value than seemed at the time, because it sowed the seed of awareness that to be a truly successful leader or manager, then you must learn how to respond rather than react to the unexpected…

Are optimists, pessimists, or realists the most successful leaders?

Posted on by The Information Badger in Information Technology, IT Project Management, Leadership, Leadership & Management, Project Management, Psychology, Risk

The Badger was asked many times during his career to engage with delivery and business leaders encountering serious problems delivering a contracted project to requirement, time, and budget. These requests were often initiated by the company’s Chief Executive who simply asked the Badger to ‘chat with those responsible and see if you can help’. They knew the Badger would interpret the request as ‘get stuck in and get the  problems on this contract resolved’. Being aware of the personal traits of the people you deal with, especially those in senior positions, is crucial to interpreting what they really mean when they ask you to do something!

One such ‘how can I help’ conversation with a business leader proved memorable because it spawned a hypothesis that the Badger feels has been validated over the years. Although we knew each other in passing, it was the first time we had met for any substantive conversation. After some initial chit-chat, the business leader quickly focused on describing the delivery, financial, and contractual difficulties of their project. They had, apparently, already spoken to a couple of experienced staff about helping to resolve the difficulties, but neither was, in their eyes, suited to the task. They described one as a cheery but superficial, glass-half-full optimist, and the other as a pedantic, too laid-back, glass-half-empty pessimist. The Badger remembers wondering how he would measure up!

After an hour’s discussion, the business leader asked the Badger to help resolve the project’s problems, adding that ‘you are a realist and you don’t care whether the glass is half full or half empty, only that the glass is a receptacle to be filled with as much liquid as possible’. Their comment spawned a hypothesis in the Badger’s mind, namely that the delivery and business leaders who have the most success, and also the longest careers, are realists. Engagements with many diverse business and delivery leaders over the years have tended to reinforce the hypothesis.

Being a realist means having a personality with a propensity to take measured risks and take measured decisions. It doesn’t mean never demonstrating optimism or pessimism. Those with an optimistic, glass-half-full, leaning tend to be less risk-conscious, while those with a pessimistic, glass-half-empty, leaning tend to have little appetite for risk at all! During COVID-19, for example, glass-half-full characters might have seen themselves as less at risk and taken less precautions, whereas those with a glass-half-empty outlook might never have left their house at all. Realists, on the other hand, would have taken measured risks based on knowing that the virus’s impact mainly depended on age and underlying health.

The Badger’s seen glass-half-full, and glass-half-empty leaders be successful, but it’s the realists who’ve been the most successful and had the longest careers. Is the Badger’s hypothesis sound scientifically? Don’t know, but he’ll stand by it until a proper people expert shoots it down in flames!

Showbusiness for ugly people, Mr Blobby, and the credibility of elderly people with power…

Posted on by The Information Badger in Change, Leadership & Management, Psychology, Technology

Someone said recently that politics is ‘showbusiness for ugly people.’  It made the Badger laugh because the phrase resonates with recent news items like those, for example, covering China’s 20th Communist Party Congress, Putin declaring martial law, and turmoil in the UK government.  The latter, in particular, has provided comedic value on a par with old television programmes like Fawlty Towers and Yes, Prime Minister. Unlike the first broadcast of these programmes, however, the internet, social media, and 24-hour news mean we don’t have to wait for the next episode because the comedy unfolds continuously in real-time.

Having no allegiance to any political ideology is probably why ‘showbusiness for ugly people’ seemed to resonate so strongly with these news items. Being playful for a moment, the Badger thinks the phrase supports the thesis that in today’s world dominated by attention-grabbing content, Mr Blobby, Paddington Bear, and Winnie the Pooh would do a better job delivering what matters than anyone groomed by the machinery of political parties.

A television news bulletin showing Mr Putin in the Kremlin prompted a visiting relative to ask a great question, namely, ‘Mr Putin is 70 years old, Xi Jinping is almost 70, Joe Biden is almost 80 (and Nancy Pelosi is 82!), so why haven’t they retired?’. They added that they weren’t ageist but merely pointing out that, in their experience, the leaders of large public sector and commercial organisations never appoint anyone of this age to run major projects, programmes, and business units. Why, therefore, are these elderly individuals credible as superpower leaders when they are in the twilight years of mental and physical prowess?

Initially flummoxed, the Badger paused to think for a moment, and then simply said that while many believe the world is a rational place, the reality is that humans are inherently both rational and irrational, as internet and social media content frequently illustrates. The propensity for irrationality can be seen in all walks of life, and especially in those who are trying to hold onto power regardless of whether it’s good for themselves and those around them. Whether elderly superpower leaders are credible is thus questionable.

The visitor expected more, so the Badger pointed out that Biden, Xi Jinping, and Putin are not from a digital-native generation and that they are all past their country’s standard pension age.  Younger, impatient individuals from digital-native generations will be biting at their heels hungry for power and change. In this decade we might thus see events that trigger the replacement of old men as superpower leaders by dynamic individuals from the digital-native generation. Eventually, of course, leaders from the digital-native generation will be corrupted by power too, and the cycle will repeat itself. The visitor looked perplexed and suggested that the Badger needed mind-altering medication…