missing middle Concepts

Human + Machine: Reimagining Work in the Age of AI

by Paul R. Daugherty and H. James Wilson · 15 Jan 2018 · 523pp · 61,179 words

, Duke University “We are in an era of digital Darwinism, where technologies are evolving faster than businesses can adapt. Daugherty and Wilson’s approaches, the missing middle and MELDS, provide the formula to help you rethink your opportunities, your processes, and your outcomes—with the goal of capturing exponential improvements in record

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, Socos “Daugherty and Wilson advance the conversation we need to have about the future of computer and human collaboration with concrete tools such as their ‘missing middle’ hypothesis and research-based organizational principles. With grounded skill and enthusiasm, the authors have delivered a roadmap that welcomes us to a productive future.” — SATYA

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in R&D and Business Innovation 4. Say Hello to Your New Front-Office Bots AI in Customer Service, Sales, and Marketing PART TWO The Missing Middle Reimagining Processes with AI Part Two Introduction 5. Rearing Your Algorithms Right Three Roles Humans Play in Developing and Deploying Responsible AI 6. Super Results

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, whereas the current era of symbiotic collaborations between humans and machines are like Waze in that those traditional processes are being completely reimagined. Filling the “Missing Middle” Unfortunately, popular culture has long promoted a man-versus-machine view—think of movies such as 2001: A Space Odyssey and the Terminator series. The

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about it, and only a small fraction of companies are working to fill this crucial gap (see figure I-1). FIGURE I-1 The missing middle In the missing middle, humans work with smart machines to exploit what each party does best. Humans, for example, are needed to develop, train, and manage various AI

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applications. In doing so, they are enabling those systems to function as true collaborative partners. For their part, machines in the missing middle are helping people to punch above their weight, providing them with superhuman capabilities, such as the ability to process and analyze copious amounts of data

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from myriad sources in real time. Machines are augmenting human capabilities. In the missing middle, humans and machines aren’t adversaries, fighting for each other’s jobs. Instead, they are symbiotic partners, each pushing the other to higher levels

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of performance. Moreover, in the missing middle, companies can reimagine their business processes to take advantage of collaborative teams of humans working alongside machines. It’s not just digital companies that are

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exploiting the missing middle. Rio Tinto, the global mining conglomerate, is a case in point. The company is using AI to manage its vast fleet of machinery—autonomous drills

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increasingly becoming the digital embodiment of those companies’ well-known brands. In other words, AI has become the brand. In part two, we explore the “missing middle” and provide an executive guide for overhauling and “reimagining” the traditional notions of work. To exploit the full power of AI, companies must fill that

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to do with their organizational mindset, experimentation, leadership, data, and skills (MELDS). Mindset: assuming a radically different approach toward business by reimagining work around the missing middle, wherein people improve AI and, in turn, smart machines give humans superpowers. Previously, the focus was on using machines to automate specific steps in a

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will discuss throughout the book. That said, executives must also understand that they need to lay a foundation first instead of rushing to fill the missing middle. Specifically, they initially should focus on developing the full potential of their employees by applying automation to routine work; then they can proceed to concentrate

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offload dull and tedious office tasks to software robots, resulting in a work environment that can offer greater satisfaction to human workers. This is the “missing middle” of human-machine symbiotic collaboration that we described in our introductory chapter. It’s where companies can generate the most value—more so than with

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similar problem, which thus places a premium on the collaborative capabilities of employees. Another lesson from this chapter was that the path toward filling the missing middle takes time as, for example, companies move from RPA to advanced AI, and that transition requires experimentation. The Swedish bank SEB paid proper attention to

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especially in chapter 5), we will discuss these new types of roles and their important implications for organizations. PART TWO The Missing Middle Reimagining Processes with AI PART TWO INTRODUCTION The Missing Middle Reimagining Processes with AI The previous chapters described how businesses are currently using AI. Across industries, companies are reaping the benefits

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side fighting for the other’s jobs. But that binary perspective is overly simplified and neglects the powerful collaborations that have been occurring in the missing middle between the two sides. The simple truth is that companies can achieve the largest boosts in performance when humans and machines work together as allies

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or no data, whereas machines excel in situations where there is lots of data. Business requires both kinds of capabilities, and it’s in the missing middle where that type of collaborative teamwork occurs. Moreover, machine learning and other AI technologies can often function like “black boxes,” resulting in decisions that might

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, they lay the foundation for adaptable, robust business processes capable of withstanding economic shocks and increasing the rate of technological change. To further develop the missing middle, businesses also need to understand the ways humans help machines and the ways machines help humans. Here we find cutting-edge jobs and hints of

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interact with humans at scale using novel interfaces, and they embody physical attributes that essentially extend a person’s capabilities. FIGURE P2-1 The missing middle Leveraging the missing middle is one of the main components needed to reimagine business processes, but another key component is revamping the concept of the process itself. Businesses

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movable, reconnectable nodes or perhaps something with a hub and spokes. The linear model for process no longer cuts it. In addition to developing the missing middle and rethinking process fundamentals, businesses need to have management address the challenges of reimagining process with an awareness of responsible AI. It’s important that

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executives not only provide the training required for people to make valuable contributions in the missing middle; they must also consider the various ethical, moral, and legal issues associated with the AI systems that their organizations deploy. Key questions include: As a

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we answer those questions and provide examples to help you start thinking about your own applications for trainers, explainers, and sustainers. FIGURE 5-1 The missing middle—left side Trainers In the past, people had to adapt to how computers worked. Now, the reverse is happening—AI systems are learning how to

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, they’ll inevitably develop their own specialized versions of trainers, explainers, and sustainers. These emerging jobs—which demonstrate the importance of human skills in the missing middle—require that leaders think differently about the needs of human and machine teams. (This is both the mindset and leadership parts of our MELDS framework

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curator, and mentor to this assistive, AI design agent. Just like that, the design process is reimagined. Welcome to the right-hand side of the missing middle (see figure 6-1), where machines augment humans. Artificial intelligence tools are empowering workers in a range of fields, from design to medicine to engineering

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these smart machines, and businesses can make more varied, adaptable choices about the kinds of products they offer their customers. In all three types of missing-middle interactions— amplification, interaction, and embodiment—companies are gaining not only super-powered employees but also a whole new way of thinking about the ways they

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human-machine capabilities. What’s more, new augmentation-based relationships demand new kinds of human-computer interfaces. What user interfaces (UI) will dominate in the missing middle? Is AI the new UI? How might augmentation affect your industry? This chapter provides examples of companies that have reimagined their processes around machine-enabled

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interface to quickly access and disseminate that information. Companies that serve the needs of many customers at once can benefit from interaction modality in the missing middle. When interaction is well understood, it can revamp the customer service process, not only in customer service centers, but at points of sale and inside

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are gone, management and leadership can reimagine workers’ processes around unusual, interesting, more nuanced customer service situations. Rubbing Elbows with Robots Amplification and interaction are missing-middle categories that mostly augment the mind. Embodiment, in contrast, deals with physical augmentation. Examples are often found in manufacturing, such as in the Mercedes-Benz

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way industries think about their people and their processes. From Task Replacement to Process Change In all three categories on the right side of the missing middle—amplification, interaction, and embodiment—we see that AI offers significant improvements to the way people work, giving them new superpowers. Combine this with the three

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side of the middle, humans are building and managing machines, and on the other side of the middle, machines are effectively giving humans superpowers. The missing middle concept undergirds our thinking about how humans and machines work best together in the age of AI; it’s critical to reimagining business processes. But

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powers of observation.) Co-create Identifying opportunities for process reimagination is one thing; pursuing them requires something else: the ability to envision work in the missing middle. To develop new mental models of how work might be done, executives should encourage co-creation among the stakeholders involved. Put yourself, for example, in

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there a better way to deploy expert technicians to remote dealerships to minimize customer wait times? Audi found the answer through co-creation in the missing middle. The company deployed a fleet of telepresence robots called Audi Robotic Telepresence (ART) that not only helps train technicians in diagnostics and repair, but also

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displacement. To help employees become more comfortable with their AI coworkers, managers need to use the roles and interactions found on both sides of the missing middle. The skills of trainers, explainers, and sustainers are absolutely crucial, as we’ll see later. But just as important is fostering positive experiences with AI

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require thoughtful humans who are eager to adapt these fundamental skills into the specific needs of their business. FIGURE 8-1 Fusion skills for the missing middle FUSION SKILL #1: Rehumanizing Time Definition: The ability to increase the time available for distinctly human tasks like interpersonal interactions, creativity, and decision making in

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in much of today’s polarizing jobs debate that has pitted humans on one side and machines on the other. And it’s within this missing middle that leading-edge companies have been reimagining their work processes, achieving outsize improvements in performance. To obtain such results, though, executives must lead their organizations

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through the transformation by making the necessary investments, including retraining workers to fill those missing-middle roles. Doing Different Things, and Doing Things Differently To extrapolate how companies will be making the transition to a new era of human + machine, we

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4). Studying those applications gave us a clear view of the future, enabling us to identify the different ways in which companies were filling the missing middle by creating new, enhanced jobs that have cracked open novel economic and employment opportunities. Specifically, our research discovered just how different these new jobs were

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from traditional kinds of work. Already, today, 61% of activities in the missing middle require employees to do different things and to do things differently—hence the crucial need for companies to reimagine their processes and reskill their employees

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engine, 92 Amelia, 55–56, 139, 164, 201, 202 amplification, 7, 107, 138–139, 141–143, 176–177 jobs with, 141–143 See also augmentation; missing middle anthropomorphism, brand, 93–94 Antigena, 58 anti-money-laundering (AML) detection, 45–46, 51 Apple, 11, 96–97, 118, 146 Apprenticeship Levy, 202 apprenticing, reciprocal

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embodied intelligence, 206 embodiment, 107, 139–140 in factories, 21–23 of intelligence, 206 interaction agents, 146–151 jobs with, 147–151 See also augmentation; missing middle empathy engines for health care, 97 training, 117–118, 132 employees agency of, 15, 172–174 amplification of, 138–139, 141–143 development of, 14

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explainability strategists, 126 explaining outcomes, 107, 114–115, 179 black-box concerns and, 106, 125, 169 jobs in, 122–126 sustaining and, 130 See also missing middle extended intelligence, 206 extended reality, 66 Facebook, 78, 79, 95, 177–178 facial recognition, 65, 90 factories, 10 data flow in, 26–27, 29–

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AI Day, 188 intelligence, extended and embodied, 206 intelligent agents, 65 IntelligentX Brewing Company, 76 interaction, 107, 139 jobs with, 143–146 See also augmentation; missing middle interaction agents, 143–146 interaction modelers, 120 internet of things (IoT), 34, 36, 37 interrogation, intelligent, 12, 185, 193–195 intuition, 191–193 inventory management

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, 120 jobs in training AI systems, 100, 114–122 personality, 118–119 reciprocal apprenticing and, 12, 201–202 worldview and localization, 119–120 See also missing middle transparency, 213 transparency analysts, 125 trust of machines vs. humans, 166–168, 172–173 moral crumple zones and, 169–172 Twitter, 168–169 Uber, 44

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, David Lavieri and Prashant Shukla worked with us week in, week out to solidify the research foundations of Human + Machine’s core ideas, including the “missing middle.” Francis Hintermann and his Accenture Research team provided world-class expertise and unfailing support for the project. Paul Nunes was a very early champion of

The Class Ceiling: Why It Pays to Be Privileged

by Sam Friedman and Daniel Laurison · 28 Jan 2019

British White British White British White British Ethnicity 20s 20s 20s 50s 40s 20s 40s 40s 50s 30s 30s 40s 20s 40s Age Missing Doctor Missing Middle manager Senior manager IT manager Electrician Gardener Salesman Senior manager Senior manager Engineer Barman Large business owner Father’s occupation Missing Lawyer Missing Secretary Office

Overwhelmed: Work, Love, and Play When No One Has the Time

by Brigid Schulte · 11 Mar 2014 · 455pp · 133,719 words

of hours. 24. Ibid., 35. 25. John C. Williams and Heather Boushey, “The Three Faces of Work-Family Conflict: The Poor, the Professionals, and the Missing Middle” (Washington, D.C.: Center for American Progress, January 2010), www.americanprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/issues/2010/01/pdf/threefaces.pdf. 26. Michael Hout and

The Rise and Fall of Nations: Forces of Change in the Post-Crisis World

by Ruchir Sharma · 5 Jun 2016 · 566pp · 163,322 words

, a proportion that has not changed since 1985 and is more than the share of people living in all other Philippine cities combined. This unique “missing middle” is quite astonishing even for a relatively undeveloped country—the Philippines’ average income is less than $3,000. However, signs of life have emerged in

Chavs: The Demonization of the Working Class

by Owen Jones · 14 Jul 2011 · 317pp · 101,475 words

not a lot of money.' As Eilis Lawlor of the New Economics Foundation expressed it to me, the disappearance of skilled jobs is creating a 'missing middle'. 'We've seen a polarization of the labour market, as relatively well-paid manufacturing jobs are replaced by less well-paid jobs in the service

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,' says Eilis Lawlor from the New Economics Foundation. 'That means actually deciding that you're going to support and promote industries that would fill the "missing middle" of skilled jobs, and you would tilt them spatially towards poor areas and areas that have been affected by recessions, but also policies to target

Broke: How to Survive the Middle Class Crisis

by David Boyle · 15 Jan 2014 · 367pp · 108,689 words

means taking a leaf out of William Cobbett’s book. It means that hard work lies ahead. In fact, given that their place in the missing middle layers of the corporations has now gone for ever, the middle classes have to become entrepreneurs again. Bridport in Dorset is an unlikely place to

India's Long Road

by Vijay Joshi · 21 Feb 2017

-sized firms (50–199 workers), and only 10.5 per cent in large firms (200+ workers).16 This extraordinary size- distribution of firms with a ‘missing middle’ is very different from what is found in East Asia (see Table 5.3), where the distribution is much more evenly spread (or increases with

Breakout Nations: In Pursuit of the Next Economic Miracles

by Ruchir Sharma · 8 Apr 2012 · 411pp · 114,717 words

, he could have gone down as one of the most successful Russian leaders in postwar history, but now that legacy is at serious risk. The Missing Middle There is no middle ground in Russia. The proportion of small and medium-sized enterprises is lower in Russia than in any other major emerging

Trust: The Social Virtue and the Creation of Prosperity

by Francis Fukuyama · 1 Jan 1995 · 585pp · 165,304 words

peasant commune, or mir, were ruthlessly eradicated. By the time of Stalin’s consolidation of power in the late 1930s, the Soviet Union exhibited a “missing middle”: the complete dearth of strong, cohesive, or durable intermediate associations. That is, the Soviet state was very powerful, and there were many atomized individuals and

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, excessive individualism, “a narrow radius of trust and the centrality of the family to the exclusion of broader society,” has long been characteristic.18 The “missing middle” between the family and the state is not unique to these Latin Catholic cultures. In fact, it finds a purer expression in Chinese societies—in

Good Economics for Hard Times: Better Answers to Our Biggest Problems

by Abhijit V. Banerjee and Esther Duflo · 12 Nov 2019 · 470pp · 148,730 words

in Indian Industry, eds. Amiya Bagchi and Nirmala Banerjee (Calcutta: K. P. Bagchi & Company, 1981). 67 Chang-Tai Hsieh and Benjamin A. Olken, “The Missing ‘Missing Middle,’” Journal of Economic Perspectives 28, no. 3 (2014): 89–108. 68 Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations (W. Strahan and T. Cadell, 1776). 69 Dave