As a kid, I recall being unable to fathom the concept of someonetalking on a phone while in a vehicle. It seemed something reservedfor the rich and famous.

Fast forward a few decades and now I, along with billions ofothers around the world, own such a device. We even have laws inplace to prevent people from irresponsibly attempting to operate vehicleswhile leveraging a piece of technology. You could say things wentfull circle.

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That's the nature of technology for you. There are so manypossibilities for technology to advance us, but there's also adownside to putting it in the hands of humans.

Outcome determined by human users

While technology can be very impressive — there are some prettyamazing gadgets, systems and innovations out there — the outcome ofany device, regardless of its purpose or function, is determined byhuman users, with all their human flaws.

Here's a simple example: My phone has thousands of featuresavailable to me, millions of apps to download. However, my use ofit is relatively basic: phone calls, emails, text messages, clock,music library, weather updates, world news, stock market updates,pedometer, camera, video camera, social media, flashlight, travelplans, personal calendar. Rudimentary, but a pretty solid list. Itdoes all those things and more, but what do we call it? A"phone."

Technology in business

Technology in a business wraps around aptitude, desire to adopt,information, communication, collaboration, troubleshooting,planning, culture and, last but not least, budget. Oh, andwell-designed software.

Nowadays, technology is a necessity. Every aspect of ourlives is somehow fueled by these codes, back-end programming,electronics and data sources.  (Photo:Shutterstock)

Let's assume you have good software in place. (I'm making thisassumption because even with the best software comes withsignificant planning and execution. If you are not leveraging goodsoftware, it tends to amplify issues, challenges andoverwhelm.)

Now enters the human. This is where rubber meets theroad. 

I see organizations invest money (lots of it) on technology.Nowadays, technology is a necessity. Every aspect of our lives issomehow fueled by these codes, back-end programming, electronicsand data sources.

A small part of the population seems to fall in the "tech-savvy,ready to optimize" category. Others may land in the "necessaryevil, bare-bones user" population. For many, somewhere in themiddle is their home.

It's important to have an organization help assess, plan, trainand guide a business in dealing with the intricacies of software.To that end, if you talk with a technology consultant, he or shemay tell you that having a secondary degree in psychology is not abad idea when consulting in this area.

Technology is emotional

Engaging with technology consultants causes teams to shareinformation, negotiate current methods and processes, learn, adapt,budget, purchase and, scariest of all, change.

Technology is emotional. As technology consultants, we arekeenly aware of this. On one hand, our job is to emphasize thevision of leveraging technology — that is, the dreaming ofwhat is possible, where technology can take your organization andwhat desired efficiencies are available and within reach.

On the flip side, we are realists, and we have to talk aboutrisk mitigation and deadlines.

We haven't leveraged the chart above during a softwareimplementation yet, but perhaps we should start. If you gauge yourorganization's mood/spirits at any given point during a technologyproject, you'd likely find every face above in the mix.

The really crazy part is when you have all the above faces inthe chart trying to work together on that same technologyinitiative.

Not one human, but multiple humans, interacting with differentaptitudes, viewpoints and deliverables around a software solutionto serve their entire organization's needs. That is a lot ofpressure, no matter how you look at it.

Back to the phone reference — even for a device that has becomeextremely common in daily life, there are decisions to be madeabout how much you will optimize a "phone."

The power and outcome of that device is up to the user (human).If you're part of a leadership team making decisions aboutorganizational technology and software, your choices regarding thetechnology's power and outcome will have an amplified impact,affecting every employee on the roster.

Whether we're using personal or organizational technology, wehumans will be more productive when equipped with a solid plan andthe support to execute it. Using any technology is like riding abike — comfort level grows with time. Thus, if you haven't already,make technology your friend — because it's here tostay. 

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Kathy Kruse is senior vice president and partner inHRIS Consulting at ihouse, A HUB InternationalCompany. She can be reached at [email protected].