Our relationship with machines is neither clear-cut nor static. Instead, ongoing work helps perfect its outcomes and build trust, which is necessary when letting an abstract algorithm conduct important tasks like investments. But, as always, it’s the human element that ensures favourable results, and our experience has shown that the best way to achieve this is through the GROW model.
What is the GROW model?
The GROW model is a coaching framework that aims to help individuals and companies set and achieve their goals.
Of course, GROW is an acronym.
- G stands for Goals, or what you’d like to achieve.
- R stands for Reality, or what your current situation is.
- O is for Options, or what paths are available to you.
- W is for Way Forward, or how you will get to your end destination via the one or more options available to you.
This method first came to the fore in the late 1980s, and many coaching gurus have since covered it. It’s also a concept that we’ve adopted when creating our trading idea automation software.
In this series, we explain how and why we do this, one letter of the GROW model at a time.
Why start with Goals?
The first question we always ask a new client isn’t what their problem is or if they have any preferences on how to solve it. Instead, we ask them where they see themselves or their company once the issue has been resolved.
To some, this may be a strange approach. Still, there’s an excellent reason for it: setting your Goals first allows us to take a positive approach in helping you achieve them, which is certainly better than thinking negatively about all the problems we are currently facing.
Why is this important when talking about technology?
There are two ways of looking at technology:
- either as something extraordinary that has solved many problems; or
- as something that has caused us more anxiety.
The reality is that technology is entirely neutral and while it’s not always perfect, how we look at it defines our relationship with it. In fact, experience has shown us that people who look at technology as something that aims to replace them or take over their job often limit their goals.
But we’re here to tell you that technology isn’t here to replace you. Instead, it's here to boost your productivity and make your life easier.
Let’s take navigation tools as an example…
When we’re talking about the importance of trusting technology, one of the examples we like to use is that of navigation apps like Google Maps. This software has completely revolutionised the way we travel and commute. It’s made things safer and more comfortable, and it's also placed the whole world in our pockets… But our relationship with them has never black-and-white.
- When we’re somewhere new and looking for a road, such an app is fantastic. But then again, sometimes its directions can annoyingly lead us to a dead end.
- When driving, such an app can show us alternative routes to help us avoid traffic jams. But when we’re in areas that we know, we often just trust our instincts because we probably know a better, shorter, and usually less congested route than the one shown by the navigation app.
Does this mean we stop using these apps? Does this mean that these apps aren’t to be trusted? No, it means that the people who have created these apps continually have to improve them to ensure that people make the most out of them.
And it’s this advancement that has led us from antiquated paper maps to navigation apps that are installed on our mobile phones or directly into our cars, and which are connected to satellites out in space.
In other words, while not perfect, our trusting and using such apps ensure their constant improvement, leading to a symbiotic relationship where the app and the service constantly improve. And who can imagine living without such navigation apps today when they help us get from point A to point B with so much more ease?
So… how can robot investment software help?
Robot investment software helps companies automate their trading and investment processes. It does so by conducting financial market data analysis and executing actions based on your strategy, among many other tasks.
All this can save companies copious amounts of time and money while allowing your employees to focus on more nuanced tasks. But for those who have never tried them, this type of software can seem too dangerous:
- What if it ruins my investments?
- What if it overspends on my budget?
- What if it crashes right when I need it to work?
- Will it replace me in my job?
We’re here to tell you that this isn’t the case. Instead, it would help if you focused on how this robot investment software can be used to maximise your talent and boost your strategy.
But, of course, to do that, you need to start with your Goals, which will then influence how such software is designed. After all, for technology to succeed, it doesn’t just require trust; it also needs us to:
- think critically about how we can achieve a goal;
- be creative in the way we lay the foundations for the solution; and
- have the right vision to create such a tool.
So, as you can see, starting from the goal should always be the first step in setting yourself on the right path to success!
This sounds fantastic… But how do you build an investment navigator that works for an investment manager?
Anyone in the industry knows that there are two types of investment managers:
- The discretionary investor who goes with their gut feelings; and
- The systematic investor who is disciplined.
We explore the difference in how this can change robot investment software in next week’s article when we look at Your Reality & How Robot Investment Software Can Counter Human Bias.