Brainpower is Our Secret Weapon
By Jay Forte, Humanetrics
Published in Sales and Service Excellence, November 2005
“If at first you don’t succeed, think, think again.”
Our greatest competitive advantage is our brain… the limitless source of ideas, creativity, innovation and thinking. And with the right direction, we can move this powerhouse into performance. The raw power of the brain is intimidating, knowing that even the brightest of people still only use a little more than 10% of their brains… and most of us, far less.
If there is so much power in this resource, why is it that we do not access it or better yet, why do we not ask to access it? The most significant asset we have - in fact any company has – is the intellectual capacity of their employees. This asset is far greater than inventory, accounts receivable, cash or equipment. Organizations have ROA, ROI and other measurement tools to manage tangible assets…so how do we measure human capital – human brainpower … human contribution?
Add this to the current explosion of information brought on by the dramatic improvements in communication. All employees now have access to information that was previously limited to management. Employees now have access to vendor and customer information, the economy, trends, competition, demographics… So imagine our dilemma. With the employee now having access to so much more information, why do we not require our employees to use it and think more about how to handle current situations, improve processes, improve performance and grow the business? Why are our expectations of employees similar to those in times where far less information was available?
We have to add yet one more fact. Nowadays, over seventy-five percent of all businesses in North America are service related; much of manufacturing has moved offshore. That means that most of our employees are not involved in repetitive and standard procedure jobs that require very little thinking. Manufacturing frequently involved learning a set of rote procedures and then applying them consistently without regard to situational changes. Service instead, involves jobs that have no one fixed set response – that means that the employee must review all of the facts at the moment of an event and think through the best responses…knowing that the very next minute he may be faced with a similar situation but a vastly different set of circumstances and his response cannot be the same as the one just used. This is the reason why we say that it is more critical now than ever before that employees bring their brains to work – and use them. Their critical thinking is the source of our growth and success.
So if we know that, what are we doing to create a dynamic and thinking culture in our workplace? How do we create a thinking workplace and then use it to turn ideas into performance?
The basis for this behavior is the culture of the department or company. To create thinking employees you must first create a thinking workplace…that is one where success and rewards happen for those who contribute great brainpower, invent, innovate, keep searching for the best ways to service customers, manage tangible assets and turn both into performance. The thinking workplace doesn’t request that an employee think…they require it. They regularly invite employees to be part of the process to solve all business issues and problems. They demand employees to continually think about ways to improve customer service, improve their image, grow the business and invent new products. They demand employees to continually grow and develop – by requiring education, hands on practice, cross training and cross teaching. They applaud employees who take calculated risks that generate out of the box responses to tough issues or strong competition. They reward employees for extra effort in and out of the company, for sharing what they know with others and for taking on additional responsibilities. They look to match employee talents with responsibilities and add skills where needed. They pay employees based on contribution, not tenure.
Creating a thinking workplace is not difficult…it is however a challenge to conventional thinking and requires that management see the benefit and make the effort. Change is not easy and to move a department or company to a new way of thinking is not easy…unless the benefit of the change can be shown.
Activate your employees by challenging them to think and then to own their responses.
Thinking organizations realize that change is constant and can be powerful motivator for growth and success. Thinking organizations do not fear change but build a culture that welcomes it as part of doing business. They get excited about where the next opportunities are and feel confident that the wisdom, experience and creativity of their employees will be able to handle change and direct it into results. A thinking organization has the tools to handle whatever happens…the trick is to awaken lazy or sleeping thinkers.
Humanetrics LLC. All rights reserved 2007.