The Systems Premise

When Artificially Intelligent computers appear to make smart decisions it is because of the data, methods, and processes they use, which are run on a capable infrastructure; the totality of their systems function together to exhibit behavior that in specialized domains can be seen as smart. By contrast, intelligent people can often come together to make a decision, and the result can often be something far less than smart. Frequently, what may happen in those cases is that the supporting data, methods, and processes the team of smart people used to make their decision fail them; they failed to function as an intelligent organization. When a good person has to work in a bad system, the bad system usually wins.

Additionally, it is not sufficient to have defined processes. The infrastructure must also be established to support those processes. That is to say, the processes must be reasonably useable by the people of the organization. The lack of a supporting infrastructure not only can make good processes moot, but also can encourage the development of "shadow processes," "work-arounds," and all sorts of odd behaviors that may be less than good for the organization.

Bottom line: Many organizational / business problems are grown from poor processes and poor supporting infrastructures. Demanding people work harder is not the solution. Fix the processes and fix the supporting infrastructure, and results can be amazing!