A friend recently said, “People are the machines of the global knowledge economy.” It sounds cold, calling people machines. His words reminded me how we speak from the framework of our experience.
Any discussion of changing times inevitably discusses our progress from agriculture to industrialism to whatever it is that we are experiencing today. We struggle to define this change, and to find labels that encompass the larger-than-life experiences of today’s society.
A machine is defined as “any mechanical or electrical device that transmits or modifies energy to perform or assist in the performance of human tasks.” (wordnetweb.princeton.edu) There are two other definitions that seem relevant: “an efficient person,” and “an intricate organization that accomplishes its goals efficiently.”
People have always looked for ways to make their work easier. We’ve created machines from the beginning, for example, the Sumerians likely used water wheels.
When we began manufacturing tools and machines, we made them less expensive and more readily available, and launched the Industrial Revolution. The Information or Service Economy developed as continuous improvement became the business focus. As demand developed for more efficient, less expensive machines, it was analysis of evaluation data and smart engineering that paved the way forward.
Today, innovation and creativity are as important as information management and engineering. It isn’t just about managing information; it is about managing knowledge, so much so that some people are calling this the global knowledge economy (Dan Pink, A Whole New Mind.) Never before has it been more important to get the right knowledge to the right place at the right time. We depend on people to achieve business results – they are each organization’s most important asset.
To refer to people as machines reflects our frame of reference – to me, it seems an old way of thinking. Of course, business leaders have new ways of thinking and new frames of reference – which is why they talk about Human Capital.
According to Wikipedia, Human Capital refers to the stock of skills and knowledge embodied in the ability to perform labor so as to produce economic value. It is the skills and knowledge gained by a worker through education and experience.
The term Human Capital doesn’t seem much better than machine to me. Most discussion of Human Capital that I’ve witnessed has been about Return on Investment (ROI) – all about the numbers. In an economic world focused primarily on business results and the bottom line, I think the term depersonalizes the workforce.
The whole point of discussing Human Capital should be to talk about taking care of people so that they can do their best work. Perhaps choosing the best way to do that merits discussion of ROI, but ROI shouldn’t be the end-all of business practices. This obsession with numbers reflects another frame of reference, one that also seems to me an old way of thinking grounded in the beginning of the Information Age.
It is time to move into the global knowledge economy. It is time to develop a fresh frame of reference. When we discuss social learning, talent management, collaboration or coaching, we need to be talking about today’s workforce and today’s business environment.
Are you leading change at your organization? How do you talk about today’s workforce?
Tags: Global Knowledge Economy, human capital, Learning & Performance, social learning, Talent Management