The Next Great Idea; Who Needs It?
May 8, 2007
Max’s note: We’re proud to present this guest post by Dr. Jac Fitz-enz. Known as the father of Human Capital Management, Dr. Jac is the CEO of The Workforce Intelligence Institute.
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Every so often the next great idea comes along and the herd goes after it like piranhas after a side of beef. Look at this list from the past 50 years:
- 2000: Intellectual Capital – Knowledge Management – dot.com
Balanced Scorecards - 7 Habits - Delayering – Rightsizing - 1990: TQM - Reengineering - Customer Service – Benchmarking - EVA - Downsizing - Empowerment - Continuous Improvement - Kaizen
- 1980: Corporate Culture - Change Management – Work Simplification
MBWA - Relationship Marketing - Intrapreneuring - Diversification - 1970: One Minute Managing - Decision Tree - Quality Circles - Excellence
Hierarchy of Needs - Value Chain - Myers-Briggs - Kepner-Tregoe - 1960: Managerial Grid - Hygienes and Motivators - Organization Renewal
Theory Z - Plan/Organize/Direct/Control - Human Relations - Matrix - 1950: Management by Objectives - Management Science - Decision Tree –Theory X & Y
What’s the lesson? Fundamentals still apply. Dot.com blew up over that. The world is changing but companies are still filled with human beings; smart ones, crazy ones and everyone in between. Bottom Line is they still need a few basics to be successful:
1. A sound plan (with a vision behind it)
2. Good decision making data (set in a flexible structure)
3. Goals and metrics to measure progress (a reward accomplishment)
4. A view of the future (what’s over the horizon?)
We have 1 through 3, but we don’t have good predictors. Accounting tells us the past. But change never comes from within the establishment. Personal computers didn’t originate with IBM or DEC. Mini steel mills didn’t come from US or Bethlehem Steel. The leaders see the future better than the followers. We need predictive tools to help us drive the future.
Prediction is the name of today’s game. We have to manage tomorrow today. Am I crazy or not?
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Dr. Jac , as he is known worldwide, is acknowledged as the father of human capital strategic analysis and measurement. During the 1970s he carried out original research which led to the first human resources metrics in 1978 and to benchmarks in 1985. As founder of the Saratoga Institute in 1980, he developed the first international HR benchmarking service, eventually covering 2,000 companies in a dozen countries. Recently, he was cited as one of the fifty persons who have “significantly changed what HR does and how it does it” in the past fifty years. For more information about Dr. Jac and the Workforce Intelligence Institute please visit humancapitalsource.com.
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