Warren Buffet when asked about the way things work is quoted as telling the following parable. "Let's say that it was 24 hours before you were born, and a genie appeared and said, 'What I'm going to do is let you set the rules of the society into which you will be born. You can set the economic rules and the social rules, and whatever rules you set will apply during your lifetime and your children's lifetimes.' And you'll say, 'Well, that's nice, but what's the catch?' And the genie says, 'Here's the catch. You don't know if you're going to be born rich or poor, white or black, male or female, able-bodied or infirm, intelligent or retarded.' I look at this scenario and wonder whether the politicians really get the idea. Do our members of management really get the idea.
Management and members of certain political leanings have forgotten this idea. We as organizations are dependent on the contributions of our human capital. They become engaged with our organizations when they feel that we are providing the atmosphere where they can function and thrive. You as an organization need human capital that want to come to work everyday. This means you need them to have the skills, the talents, the knowledge that is demanded by the global marketplace. This means in order for us to be competitive we need an educated populous. We need a populous that can look at a problem and critically think it through to solution.
What we do not need to be doing in these times is to cut spending to education, health care, the arts and other programs that enhance the well being of our human capital. Management and politicians ought to be required to walk in the shoes of their human talent and see what they really face in the current economic times. See what it is like to be confronted with circumstances which make them less then optimum talent.
Management has to consider that their previous habits have brought on some dire scenarios for our survival and they should not demand of our officials that we know we have been wrong but don't hold us responsible so make sure that environmental regulations clean up our mistakes.
We are in tough financial times but the rush to cut expenses both in society and in our organizations have to be tempered with what is right for the welfare of our human capital. We need to look at what our superstructure needs to meet their needs. Money is tight so you cut mass transit under the guise that no one will use it. You cut outlets to teach critical thinking like NPR. You cut out access to quality health care for the poor because you dislike the philosophy of the delivery vehicle.
In the log run what you end up with is human talent that is unengaged,are non contributors to society, our organizations and the world.
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