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The July HBR has a very interesting series on Beyond Automation. Strategies for Remaining Gainfully Employed in an Era of Very Smart Machines by Davenport and Kirby.

• Automation/computerization is coming to knowledge work in the form of artificial intelligence in the foreseeable future such as CPOE systems screening for allergies, contraindications, perform kinetic calculations, etc.
• Eras of automation
  • 19^th Century-machines take away the dirty and dangerous industrial tasks and relieves humans of onerous manual labor
  • 20^th Century-machines take away the dull tasks such as routine service transactions and clerical chores.  Think of airline kiosks and phone trees
  • 21^st Century-machines take away decision making with intelligent systems to make better choices than humans reliability and fast.
• It is important to rather than ask what mental tasks currently performed by humans will soon be done more cheaply and rapidly by machines but rather what new feats might we be able to achieve with the assistance of machines
• The key is to start with what humans do today and figure out how that work could be deepened rather than diminished by the greater use of machines such as with sophisticated decision analytics based on large data sets could uncover new and important insights
• Consider the following five paths to continued employability
  • Step Up by adding value such as considering the big picture which a computer will always have trouble doing. An example for pharmacy leaders might be how can wearable technology make pharmacists more productive. If this is your strategy consider getting additional education such as an MBA or MHA.
  • Step Aside by bringing your strengths to the table that aren’t about purely rational cognition such as intuiting what our “customers” really need.  A pharmacy example might be using “FedEx type” technology to notify the nurse when her dose arrives in the patient care area. If this is your strategy develop your “multiple intelligences” beyond IQ and look at things from the other caregivers perspective by such practices as shadowing as medications are administered.
  • Step In by understanding how software makes routine decisions so you can modify its function and outputs. In the pharmacy world understanding how the workload statistics are captured and the billing-reimbursement programs work is critical to ensure their accuracy. If this is your strategy then broadening and deepening your knowledge outside of pharmacy is important.
  • Step Narrowly by specializing in something no computer program has yet been able to do.  For us it might be personal, real time, on-going, face to face relationships with patients so they can clarify all the information they are receiving and reading. If this is your strategy then you must master communication skills, the use of social media, technology such as Skype, Face Time, etc. and be passionate about helping patients.
  • Step Forward by building the next generation of smart machines or applications by seizing on new ways to use data to optimize key decisions. For pharmacy it might be innovative ways to ensure medication adherence or that patients had refills when needed. If this is your strategy then you need to stay up on cutting edge computer science and technology such as blue tooth data transfer.

Please share what you think the implications are for us?