“this is the ultimate challenge … the old entities are no longer relevant: the ecosystem has changed and they have failed to keep up.
Take learning: it used to be something formal, done to individuals, by organisations. It was carefully controlled and doled out as a prize or a punishment. Knowledge itself had value, and we segmented, captured and controlled it.
I’ve seen the brakes that HR and L&D try to use to maintain control. I think there’s a link between this behaviour and the appalling absence of real leadership in many organisations. When 60% of workers would fire their boss if they could that’s an indictment of a whole system that includes recruitment, retention and promotion.
Julian Stodd and Julia Briggs both paint a picture of helplessness in HR which basically boils down to, “we would if we could but we can’t”.
In a brilliant essay for Psychology Today Ray Williams ties together compelling research to make the link between uncertainty and the revival of macho leadership in both business and politics.
Very shortly after that incident in the snow I rationalised the way I responded (which may mean it’s not true!) I thought that I stopped myself from trying to over- control the situation by braking because my son was in the car; his presence made me remember what was really important.
I believed then – and still do now – that if he hadn’t been in the car I would have been much more reckless and reactive. I would have wanted to “win” against the elements and in doing that I may very well have lost.
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