THE MAGIC IS IN THE PEOPLE

"You can design, create, and build the most wonderful place in the world but it takes people to make the dream a reality."

Walt Disney, 20th century American entrepreneur.

Something to remember the next time you are part of a discussion of how to reduce or eliminate the need for human intervention.

SO OBVIOUS YOU MAY NOT HAVE SEEN IT

"Business is like a wheelbarrow--it stands still until someone pushes it."

Unknown

"Companies" and "businesses" don't exist without employees and without the effort of all nothing good happens.

If you're simply waiting for everyone else to do something, how do you know everyone else isn't doing the same?

And if they're not and you're not how far do you think your company "wheelbarrow" will go?

CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT YOU?

"There is no indispensable man."

Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945) Thirty-second President of the USA.

Or woman for that matter should you think otherwise.

And, man or woman, you become even more dispensable the more you think you are indispensable.

WHAT ARE YOU THINKING?

"Reading is equivalent to thinking with someone else's head instead of with one's own."

Arthur Schopenhauer 

Late 18th.early 19th century German philosopher

While specific to reading I believe the thought ("thinking with someone else's head") is valid beyond just what we read.

It is something we all should strive to do more often.

PROBLEM SOLVERS

"The usual fortune of complaint is to excite contempt more than pity."

Samuel Johnson

18th century British author

Do you want to demonstrate real value to your employer?

For every problem you make them aware of bring them three possible solutions.

Averages Are Made Up Of Differences

"The worst form of inequality is to try to make unequal things equal."

Aristotle

3rd century BC Greek philosopher

Because it can't be done.

You can treat unequal things and people the same but that doesn't make them equal.

How's your promotion policy?

On Or Off The Person, An Empty Suit Still Is

"Charm strikes the sight, but merit wins the soul."

Alexander Pope

18th century English poet

Whatever gets you in the room.

But once in, you need to perform.

It's Only (Their) Money

"When the well's dry, they know the worth of water."

Unknown

As an employee, how often (do) you think about the limitation of company resources available to support you all?

You should, every day.

Everyone Thinks So!

"I guess the definition of a lunatic is a man surrounded by them."

Ezra Pound

20th century American poet/intellectual

You are a manager and everyone but one of your staff is convinced that one individual is wrong, the rest of them right.

While you understand why they feel this way, you privately wonder if she may be right, the rest of them wrong.

What do you do?

Now That We Know What's Wrong . . .

"The powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse.  What will yours be?

Unknown

Most of us know how to complain, however, complaining is not contributing.

If problems are only identified, never solved, well . . .

Too Close To See The Value?

"Distance is a great promoter of admiration!!

Denis Diderot

18th century French philosopher

We do tend to admire those not close enough for us to see their flaws.

But it is your employees, the ones close to you, who will do the bulk of whatever it is you will accomplish.

Replace them if you absolutely cannot value them.

Reward them if you do.

Words Unsaid Sometimes Speak Louder Than Those You Hear

"The silent dog is the first to bite."

Proverb

Those managers who mistake silence for acceptance/agreement are making a big mistake.

Familiarity Breeds Contempt?

"The people who are absent are the ideal; those who are present seem to be quite common place."

Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

Late 18th, early 19th century German author

As a consultant I sometimes find that clients who hire me, more value my opinion than they do that coming from some of their employees.

I understand I need to make a contribution, and more often than not, I actually do.  

However, taking nothing away from me, there are times when what that is was in-house all along, had senior management only listened to their employees.

Only "Own" What Is Yours

"What is not yours always chirps for its master."

Spanish proverb

And this is not just a matter of acting as though a suggestion or idea came from you; it must actually have done so or it will be apparent to others when it did not.

But even if that weren't true (it must be; I don't believe the Spanish would have turned it into a proverb were it not), there is as much if not more gratification to come from supporting the contributions of others.

Particularly if you are management.

Until Done, "It" Isn't "Great"

"Genius begins great works; labor alone finishes them."

Joesph Joubert

18th century French moralist

Are you the "boss"?

How much of whatever your company does, is done by you?

Change: You Are Not On Your Own

"The silence of the people is warning for the king."

French proverb

And the boss too.

I'm in the middle of a two year research project regarding the process of change, what it is and how to do it better.

One of the common conclusions is you can't do it alone and as a result, what happens in organizations that do not encourage employee input?

Employees: What They "Do" Or What They Can Do?

"Let each man exercise the art he knows."

Aristophanes
4th century BC Greek Writer

Theoretically everyone you hire has something to contribute (if that isn't true, why did you hire them?)

Making sure that is so and getting it from them is the responsibility of management.

When you look at employees, do you see the jobs you hired them to do, the unique contribution they can make to the company, or both?

Is there a difference?