If you don’t know what that is, please let me save you the trouble of Googling it. It’s based on the word ‘capture’ and is an acronym for “Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart.”

According to Wikipedia, CAPTACHA is a challenge-response test used in computing to ensure the response is not coming from another computer. You’ve all seen it. It’s that little block of text that’s typed in by what’s assumed to be a “human” versus another computer.

CAPTCHAs are used to prevent automated software from performing actions which diminish the quality of service of a system. CAPTCHAs can be deployed to protect systems vulnerable to email spam, which may not harm your system, but it’s a huge time-waster having to delete all that spam.

Okay, so now probably know more than you care to know about CAPTCHAs, and what got all this started?  In a blog I read by Sharlyn Lauby, she discusses how the relationship between technology and humans moves beyond and ‘either/or’ to a ‘both/and’ relationship. It’s about how humans and ccomputers use their capabilities together to make things happen.

Lauby argues two main concepts organizations will have to change in the way they view work.

Managers have to change their mentality from a “can’t do” environment to a “can do”.  If we only view a CAPTCHA as a filter for negative comments, then we never see its true potential.

Companies need to shift their thinking about technology.  If we only view computers as a means to replace humans, then we run the risk of not seeing them as partners to solving the world’s problems.

These two points encapsulate many of the concepts in ‘Human Capital Supply Chains’. Change management is crucial to any new process that takes place within an organization. And often times, the managers have been involved with the new process for some time, so they have been able to accept the changes before they create buy-in on the restructure from others who will be impacted. For the other parts of the organization, that may not be the case, so they will need some help understanding change.

Some organizations forget that technology is there to help them out, not become a hindrance. Don’t let your current system make your organization unproductive. CAPTCHAs were created to help reduce the amount of spam you receive in your system. If you don’t have a CAPTCHA on your website where you’re collecting information, you’re spending a lot of time deleting spam that can be used on being more productive.

Whether it’s change management or implementing supply chains in your organization requires CEO buy-in and coordination between diverse departments across the organization. It is the responsibility of every CEO and manager to grasp the connection between strategic growth and the streamlining of the Human Capital Supply Chain through the use of improved processes and technology.

The next time I have to enter ‘typing distraction’ somewhere out on the Internet, I’ll be thankful for the oppotunity to work with my computer and technology, and that it’s one test I can pass. Unless I can’t read the words.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 27th, 2010
Categories: Human Resource Strategy, Supply Chain Technology
Tags: CAPTCHA, change management, technology