
‘Automation’ in Service Operations - swingbridge
https://www.ckmadvisors.com/blog/post/28/
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sarcasmic
In a typical BigCo, much of the "soft service" processes are run by their own
group, far removed from the reach of the automation implementers whether
they're internal or external.

A top-down mandate to bring increased automation will require the implementers
and the business unit to meet, agree on requirements, and exchange detailed
information about the existing process which may or may not be formally
codified. This process is frequently done without the involvement of frontline
service workers, so the information being exchanged is done by people at least
one step removed from the details of the work, and it just gets worse from
there, like a meeting-filled, high-stakes variant of the telephone whispers
game.

The opposite case is where a business unit develops their own highly
computerized solution, but the process, when discovered, is unacceptable to
the BigCo. The subject matter expert can seldom contribute technical artifacts
into the sanctioned rewrite, so the rewrite becomes an imperfect facsimile,
and the subsequent migration will cause issues.

In both cases, much of the conflict comes from the users of the software not
being contributors to the software, in a broad sense of that word. And,
service unit employees are often already tiered between process administrators
and task executors with no obvious path of advancement between them, such that
the frontline workers can be automated out of a job entirely. On top of the
organizational barriers, this creates a structural disincentive against
contributing to a solution.

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nateburke
Additional 4th point: understand the ethical tail risk, if it exists!

Is there an assumption (explicit or otherwise) that the human process your are
automating includes a capability that the general public would consider
"ethical"?

In the worst case scenario, where: 1\. that capability is removed by the
automation 2\. there are negative consequences 3\. the whole world discovers
the consequences,

will your business survive? Can you "blame the vendor?"

e.g. [https://www.reuters.com/article/us-amazon-com-jobs-
automatio...](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-amazon-com-jobs-automation-
insight/amazon-scraps-secret-ai-recruiting-tool-that-showed-bias-against-
women-idUSKCN1MK08G)

Amazon made a smart move in pulling this project -- the public perception risk
of selling, or even deploying a product that could be seen as "bias,
automated" was too great.

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bbertucc
In my experience, the best policy is just to ask engineers where they are
spinning their wheels. Engineers know best where to automate. Relying on top
down automation decisions inspires ineffective automation.

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GarrisonPrime
For those, like me, who don't understand why people make their websites hard
to read with low-contrast text, try "select all". The highlighting tends to be
easier on the eyes.

~~~
Dunedan
Reader mode is an alternative which provides even better readable results.

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awinter-py
> you will struggle to automate procs that aren't already efficient

Woof, trigger warning. Been there.

