Management
Toxic assets of the human kind
May 24th
When toxins enter a systems it creates all sorts of systemic problems that could even lead to system failure. Depending on the strength of the toxin, the effect could be immediate or slow decay over time. Often the initial effect is barely felt, but over time it becomes more acute as more elements in the system are infected, and grinds to a halt.
In any organisation human capital is the core asset, because it is people in organisations that set strategies and goals, design work systems, produce goods and services, monitor quality, allocate financial resources and market the products and services. Now, imagine the potential effect of “toxins” in this core asset. Over time it could have an adverse effect on productivity, quality, culture and climate in the organisation. “Toxic human capital,” as with any other toxic asset can only be considered as a risk hindering an organisation.
I define “toxic human capital” as a human carrier of a distorted ideology, -attitude, -values, -perception, -reality or -interpretation of the world that manifests in behaviour that instigates fear, conflict, dissonance, and tension in a social system.
E-overload: Temporary becomes permanent
Dec 23rd
Twenty-first century business executives, managers and professionals are under significant and constant pressure to deliver. Information and communication technology – particularly email – designed to supposedly enhance communication and efficiency is in reality having the opposite effect. One finds that people are overloaded with information which seductively leads to longer working hours in order to clear and respond to emails. Personally I find that the boundaries between my work- and home life have all but disappeared because of the unrelenting e-overload and expectations of rapid response.
I am acutely aware of the need to engage with my team and colleagues more closely, but so many competing ‘urgent’ demands upon my time and energy results in the tendency that this engagement is put on the backburner – remaining something to get around to. The question beckons: “Are we increasingly dominated by the myth of urgency, often to the point where the really fundamental and critical issues are simply ignored or put on hold indefinitely?” I tend to think that the dangerous myth is that the ‘put on hold’ is ‘only temporary’. I would argue that, too often, it turns out to be permanent…
