And now for something light-hearted or for those light of heart

Outsourcing is all about relationships and communication and technology - so why should we be surprised that you can now outsource the communication in your relationship to technology?

Romantic relationship, that is. Some people are calling it the: “single most important invention of our time,” while others think it’s sexist claptrap.

The BroApp, a smartphone app that purports itself to be a “relationship wingman”, and purveyor of sweet nothings, digitally delivered to unsuspecting girlfriends, who apparently are expected to be swept of their feet by a series of predetermined messages while the BroApp user can free up his time to hang with his “Bros.”

Er, no, fellas, I don’t think so. Nice idea maybe, but the execution lacks finesse. Maybe it’ll be a goer once artificial intelligence comes far enough to drop in the wit and charm it takes to woo a lady, and make her feel special. But using BroApp contravenes one of the outsourcing’s fundamental lessons:

You can outsource most things, but you can’t outsource your competitive advantage.

Tip for you fellas: how you communicate, and the effort you put into a relationship is your competitive advantage. Unless you look like David Beckham, or you’re super-rich, and she’s the gold-digging type, the way you interact with your better half is the reason she’s with you, and not somebody else.

Of all the things you can entrust to a robot these days, romancing isn’t one of them because:

a) The existing technology isn’t nuanced and responsive enough

b) A properly artificially intelligent robot would probably be smoother and smarter than you, and will completely outstrip you in the charm stakes

Why risk it? Will your relationship survive a complete sincerity bypass?

If you don’t value your relationship enough to send your own text messages, get rid now because if she finds out you’re using the BroApp, and she’ll suss it soon enough, you’ll be the one being ditched. I reckon it won’t be long till we see the first news story of a woman dumping her idiot boyfriend for using the BroApp.

Improving communication is always a good idea. Outsourcing to BroApp is a bad idea, because it flies in the face of another key outsourcing lesson: relationships are key.