Devil's Advocate: Could the next killer app be human?

As companies continue to haemorrhage staff, could it be that we are on the verge of a less human-dependent era of working life? Or as Martin Brampton, director at consultancy Black Sheep Research, argues, could the opposite be true?

Are human beings the next killer application? No, no, it is not a recruiting slogan for the army. We are still in the world of IT. Take Tim Sanders. He has the comforting title of chief solutions officer at Yahoo! - I wonder if I could get a job as a chief problems officer? Anyway, he says exactly that: "People will be the next killer application.

"Many companies don't invest in people and the knowledge they have."

At a time when most companies are busy investing in machines and not people, it is a brave claim. It also appears to run against the tide of modernity. After all, technology might seem to characterise our view of humanity at the start of the third millennium. We often suppose that the market governs the creation of technology and that in turn governs how we live. We surround ourselves with sophisticated gadgetry, which seems the most forward-looking part of our lives.

Yet as a microcosm of the modern world, IT illustrates some of its contradictions. Software development is often portrayed as a world of solitary, unsociable individuals. A few software products are created by people for whom solitary is an apt description. But most of the best software is actually created by small teams. Working in a development team can be an exhilarating experience, as the individual members debate the precise character of the problem to be solved and search for viable solutions. One of the great virtues of object orientation is its support for better terminology in the design and development process. Even when code is being written, people commonly spend a significant part of their time in personal interactions.

This is not mere self-indulgence. There is no evidence to support claims that particular development tools or techniques are critical factors for success in software. Years ago, I was a young programmer, building corporate systems on mainframes equipped with less memory than a mobile phone. We were sometimes told that the entire development process would soon be automated, leaving us without work. It hasn't happened. The tools can be very useful, but the critical factor for success in building software is still the quality of the team and its social dynamics.

Despite our successes, the cynic might point out that we are often bewitched by technology. After decades of demonstrations to the contrary, it is still often believed that a complex human problem will be solved, once some new technology is installed. All too often, the only result is that we find out that our 'solution' fails to meet the real needs of people, and is never used.

Looking at the wider world, there is more than one way to look at Mr Sanders' advocacy for investment in people. There is, if you think about it, something sinister about the epithet 'Human Resources'. A resource is something that is there to be used, but used for what? What is the goal for which we are to invest in people? If it is merely to make people into more efficient machines, it will hardly be progress, even if it can be described as a killer application.

After all, the fundamental reason why we work is to provide for one another's needs. Few in modern society work simply for their own needs as most of us rely on complex webs of exchange for goods and services. Yet we should not allow that to obscure the fact that the system is not our ultimate purpose. If that is what Mr Sanders means by making people the next killer application, then he could have a radical effect on IT.

** Martin Brampton is a director and founder of Black Sheep Research (http://www.black-sheep-research.co.uk ), an independent consultancy providing research, writing and speaking services on a wide range of business and technology subjects. Martin was previously a director at Bloor Research, and has worked with IT as a user and analyst for over 20 years. He is a frequent contributor to silicon.com's weekly Behind the Headlines TV programme and can be contacted at silicon@black-sheep-research.co.uk.