• About

The art and science of the possible

~ A celebration of non-zero sum thinking

The art and science of the possible

Tag Archives: human capital

Communism is dead. Long live (corporate) Communism!

05 Tuesday Aug 2014

Posted by lnedelescu in business, capitalism, future, human capital, knowledge, management, philosophy, society

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

business, Charles Handy, Communism, Corporations, human capital, Knowledge Economy, Peter Drucker, Progress, Society, Talent

Communism

The sensible consensus is that communism became all but extinct with the end of the Cold War. I say it may be so, but the mindset that fueled it continues to live unhindered. Your next thought may be that I am referring to North Korea. But I have something much closer to home in mind: the U.S. corporate sector. Yes, you didn’t misread. I will dare to say that the mindset of the corporate sector in 2014 is eerily reminiscent of communist thinking.

Continue reading →

Organizational Transformation and Development

24 Monday Mar 2014

Posted by lnedelescu in human capital, Organizational Development, Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Change, Charles Handy, Development, human capital, Organization, Transformation

Image

One of the lasting memories I have from the Peter Drucker Global Forum event held in Vienna, Austria in November 2013 is of the great Charles Handy. His speech was great. But what amused me more was his playfulness. His willingness to still take chances. I caught him staring intently for what must have been a minute at an 100 year old “hop-on-hop-off” wooden elevator with no doors that still functions in the building of the Federation of Austrian Industries building in Vienna (see picture below). Eventually he hopped onto the moving elevator and everything turned out fine to my relief.

Continue reading →

Don’t fix Capitalism; realize its opportunities!

09 Sunday Mar 2014

Posted by lnedelescu in business, capitalism, human capital, innovation, knowledge, society

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Capitalism, creativity, daydreaming, economics, Global Peter Drucker Forum, Harvard Business Review, human capital, Imagination, Industrial Revolution, Invention, Marxism, non-zero sum thinking, Peter Drucker, Prosperity, wealth

Image

Despite what you may be led to think when listening to heated political debates and cable news wise men, things are not that complicated when it comes to humanity’s predicament.

In a time when common folk and elites alike decry Capitalism and seem intent on going after it with pitchforks, I say we have yet to achieve it.

Continue reading →

Current HR practices killing innovation – an update

10 Wednesday Jul 2013

Posted by lnedelescu in business, human capital, innovation

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

HR, human capital, Innovation, Mavericks, Reliability bias, Risk

Image

About a month ago I argued in one of my blog entries that current HR practices’ bias towards reliability is killing innovation. This is a short update to provide further supporting evidence.

Continue reading →

Empowering true talent

03 Wednesday Jul 2013

Posted by lnedelescu in business, human capital, management, Organizational Development, Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

business, Empower, Hints, human capital, management, Organizational Development, Talent, value, wisdom

talented

“Managing” true talent is a misnomer. Subjecting the truly inspired to rules is akin to plowing fields with Ferraries – yes it might just work, but it sure is stupid. Use the talented rather for creating the recipes around which the hoards of less inspired can be assembled and scaled. In the same vein, don’t compensate the truly talented by the hour or with a fixed income: you would in effect incentivize them to limit their imagination. Strategy and vision are holistic products, they cannot be bought or measured by the hour, and don’t bow to quantitative rewards.

So then how can you empower the talented? Here’s a few hints.

Continue reading →

Current HR practices, a significant liability for the world’s future

06 Monday May 2013

Posted by lnedelescu in business, capitalism, future, human capital, innovation, science, society

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Christensen, Design, HR, human capital, Innovation, Roger Martin

father_time_flying_past (1)

Some of my blog entries may be taken as theoretical exercises. While I make use of the latest thinking, most of the things I write about are in fact directly extracted from personal experience. It is my attempt to turn what could otherwise be called frustrations into constructive insights. I felt this short introduction was necessary simply to add a degree of credibility to what follows. Now let’s get back on topic.

Let’s start with a preview of my thesis. My argument rests on three observations: (1) innovation is vital to our future; (2) innovation is slowing down; (3) current HR practices are a contributing factor. Having argued my case, I will end by providing a few ideas on possible solutions.

Continue reading →

Performance reviews: an alternative perspective to the latest thinking

10 Monday Dec 2012

Posted by lnedelescu in business, human capital, management

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

HR, human capital, human resources, performance reviews, promotion

One of the latest articles on LinkedIn features a thought leader proposing that, and I quote, “when you start telling someone, ‘you are really great at x, but when you do y…’ the BUT negates all the goodwill that you are building up with the first part of your sentence.  The BUT gets someone’s defenses up, and makes them way less able to hear the important thing you want them to listen to.” (see https://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20121130041419-9947747-how-to-give-great-employee-feedback).

This is another good example of superficial understanding of how human beings function. In short, my argument is as follows: human beings are adaptive beings. So during a performance review they can easily adjust their mental sensors to read through the lines quite effectively and decode whether “AND” really means they are deficient in some respect. So replacing “BUT” with “AND” is in my humble opinion not an effective way to get positive results in the short term or help the employee to grow in the long run.

A much more effective (in the transformative sense) approach is to give the employee the larger context, to show them how their behavior affects the bigger picture, and to encourage them to find ways to upgrade their individual behavior accordingly. That is a powerful motivator and it’s a way of treating the employee with due maturity and respect. It can be the beginning of a fruitful partnership in achieving a larger vision and mission.

Categories

business capitalism Communication complexity consulting Crisis democracy design thinking Emerging Markets future human capital innovation Investment knowledge learning management Organizational Development paradox philosophy problem solving sales science society strategy taxonomy technology Uncategorized

Latest

  • Intelligence is Intentional
  • Plenty of Room at the Top: the case for a viable man-machine economic future
  • What does an “innovation economy” really mean?
  • Lightfoot strategy
  • Capital: a brief philosophy

Archives

  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • August 2014
  • June 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012

Blog at WordPress.com.

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
  • Follow Following
    • The art and science of the possible
    • Join 151 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • The art and science of the possible
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...