PHIT Jono Atherton Episode 1 Part 2 – “Gain the trust of the human first”

Welcome to the Putting the Human into technology Podcast, this episode is part two of our interview with Jono Atherton. We have called it Gain the trust of the human first, let us know what you think. You can view/listen on YouTube and all good podcast platforms

Gain the trust of the human first – The Questions

1. Thinking about (Digital) Transformation…do you think most organisations need to “transform” or is it more about “continual improvement”…and why?
2. Do most organisations want to drive value from data/technology? How do you think technology and people solutions should be weighted or balanced?
3. What advice would you give your younger self or those starting out / changing their career?
4. Tell me a fun fact about yourself that perhaps nobody else knows about you?

Gain the trust of the human first – The Links

You can view – Gain the trust of the human first – Jono Atherton Part 2 on YouTube

You can listen to – Gain the trust of the human first – Jono Atherton Part 2 on Anchor

Previous Episodes

You can view – Never turn an opportunity down – Jono Atherton Part 1 here

You can view previous podcast episodes here The podcast is available on all good podcast platforms

Gain the trust of the human first – Key Takeaways

• Put more into developing the Human on how to develop and employ the technology effectively…than the technology itself.
• Don’t just ask for things, because you’ve always had them
• Focus more on getting the Human to act on the data and use the technology
• Never fully trust the technology…always let the Human have the final say
• Sometimes, there’s too much data, narrow it down, so you can act on it.
• Gain the trust of the Human first
• My plan when I first started out…was to get to the weekend…
• Have a longer-term plan, stick to it, don’t take short term temptations
• (Money)…don’t chase it…it’ll come
• The perfect Sunday…is watching a Disney film.

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Gain the trust of the human first – The Transcript

Question 1 – Thinking about (Digital) Transformation…do you think most organisations need to “transform” or is it more about “continual improvement”…and why?

 Jono Atherton  02:00

It’s a good question. In theory, they’re all in same. In my head, they’re one and the same, you either start with a transformation because you are on zero and you need to get to 10 before improvement, or you just take it slow and steady. But isn’t it just continuous evolvement? Isn’t it? You know, it’s interesting, because personally I don’t work in the technology department. I don’t work in that sector. But I’ve never heard a story of a company that is transformed or done continuous improvement successfully. I only know negative stories, when you think of Blockbuster missed out on the whole Netflix, you know, Kodak missed out on the whole go digital? I don’t know of any, that did it successfully. And I guess that’s for a reason. Because the consumer just goes along with it. You know, I go back to the Netflix and the Blockbuster scenario. I remember somewhere in between there where I thought LOVE Film, where you had a DVD by post, was the future. And that’s how it was always going to be. Yeah. But actually, they, you know, they never evolved did they, and Netflix just, you know, I guess they transformed, Netflix went from zero to hero overnight.

Question 2 – Most organisations want to drive value from data/technology? How do you think technology and people solutions should be weighted or balanced?

 Jono Atherton  06:28

Difficult. So, you know, I’ve historically always worked in industries where, everything is invested in data. The military, aviation, everything is invested in technology and data, you look at the cost of an upgrade to an aircraft, compared to the training of a pilot is, it’s astronomical. But in reality, every industry I’ve always worked in, nothing has been fully autonomous. It’s getting there now, you know, remotely piloted aircraft, but it’s never ever going to be without the human. And for me, I put more weight on developing the human on how to employ and use the technology, effectively.

If we go back to the project that we’re currently working on Mark, how many (stakeholders say) “I want to see this report, I need to see this report, I need to see this data”. But they’ve never actually, nobody ever actually highlights what they’re actually looking for. And it’s been one of our concerns all the way through this project that people are just asking for reports, because that’s what we’ve always had.

And, are we at risk of becoming in an echo chamber…we have that report, and we get to see it weekly, but how do we act on it? And that’s more where I’m focused…in getting human to act on the data and use the technology.

So, you know, to answer the question, because I did a very good impression of Mark Williams there and skirted around a question. Oh, I think I personally put more weight on the human.

For now, I don’t know, I guess I’m a difficult person to answer this question. Because I don’t come from the technology industry. Well, I’m never fully going to trust technology, I’m always going to be shy around it, and want the human to have the final say. But I do accept that we are getting there with technology and the way the industry is going right now…(though) you know, I think we’re probably 10 years off.

When is enough data, enough data? Or when is it not enough data?

Jono Atherton  10:20

I think that’s probably part of my problem with wanting to trust the human. You know, I forgot an example this week where a report was produced. And, and I’m not saying this just because they might listen, both my boss, the director of ops, and the MD, instantly looked at the report, and knew it wasn’t right, because their mental data and their ability to understand the business and the industry was already far ahead of that. And they spotted and identified the problems instantly.

And I think that’s probably where I think potentially sometimes there’s too much data. Narrow data down and make it make it more accurate. So that actually, for the likes of my boss, and the MD, they can act on that data, in full faith, obviously. We have to gain the trust of the human first, the data always trumps everything, because it’s just human nature.

Question 3 – What advice would you give your younger self?

Jono Atherton  12:16

I think it’d be twofold for myself. Firstly, have a plan. Probably looking back now. You know, my plan, when I first started out as a young worker was get to the weekend, you know, that’s not a very long plan. And it usually didn’t go well at the weekend. You know, yeah, definitely a 10-year plan, know where you want to be. It’s not just professional, as well it’s life, especially nowadays, you know, you need to have a 10-year plan just to be able to get a mortgage nowadays, it’s insane.

But I would also add on to that, that if your plan is long term, 10 years, then make sure you stick to it and don’t get taken off by short term temptations.

I guess it’s always a taboo subject but financials and pay just don’t chase it it’ll come to you eventually. If you’re doing something that you enjoy and you know, getting a little bit less for a little bit longer it’s worth it

Question 4 – Tell us a fun fact about yourself…?

There’s probably two or three people that know this, mainly my wife, my perfect weekend will be on the sofa watching the Disney film at the ripe old age of 34, (not) with a beer in a pub. I still love to sit down on the sofa and watch a Disney film.

The second fun fact about yourself…?

Yeah, so you know, me and Claire, Claire my wife, our favorite days are walking the dogs. So we live in the country and walk from pub to pub. Every walk is planned around a pub. And obviously, when lockdown happened…that kind of ruined our weekend. But we’re both still working full time. So we didn’t want to lose that.

So I just took to the tools and built a pub in the garden. It’s only three and a half meters by three and a half meters but it’s got a full working bar with pumps and all that good stuff and Sky Sports, smelly beer carpets and pork scratching’s!