Suzanne Mercier - Wednesday, April 14, 2010
A friend, Mo Fox, and I were talking last night about a great presentation she had attended with Gina Lazenby, featuring the work of Riane Eisler and the subject of Caring Economics.
|
|
The conversation reminded me of Dr. Marilyn Waring - the crusading NZ
ex-MP who took on the United Nations and specifically their System of
National Accounts. She objected to the fact that the only thing that
was measured in the economy and therefore the only thing that was valued
was an activity that created an exchange of money, earned an income.
Under that system of measurement, the activity involved in creating,
nurturing, and raising a child did not create money so it was not valued
and not measured. Under that same system, war was valued as it
generated income.
|
In fact, international trade in arms was - in 1988 at the
time Waring's book "If Women Counted" was published - the
biggest
growth industry of all and as Waring points out, killing
people or
preparing to kill is very valuable in the international
economic system
and therefore entire countries whose economic systems are
based on arms
have a vested interest in there being a war somewhere in the
world. The
same economic system that values arms trading because it is
an economic
transaction, never measures the debit which in this case
would include
death, homelessness, injury, poverty and starvation.
What we are seeing in Waring's work and in less
confrontational terms,
the work of Eisler, is a calling to economic account for the softer
values that have huge current and potential value to our lives and those of the generations to come. Eisler's new economic model, taken from her book "The Real
Wealth of Nations: Creating a Caring Economics", adds 3 new sectors of
the economy into the model: Volunteer Services, Household and
Environment. Eisler also proposes ways in which these three sectors can become
part of the total economic picture.
Going back and reconnecting with Waring's work got me thinking about soft and hard values and skills. My mind shifted from looking at the global economy to thinking about organisations today - a natural segue if you consider that organisations contribute to the economy and are therefore measured in positive terms, not necessarily any deficits they create.
The argument about the inherent worth of soft or hard values and skills still plays out in that environment. Women are generally thought to embody the softer skills. According to the Business Council of Australia, only 10.7% of
senior executive positions in Australia are held by women. They occupy just 2% of CEO
roles. Women chair 2% of ASX 200 companies and hold just 8.3% of board directorships. What do those figures say about how highly business values the softer values?
As a speaker, trainer and coach working in the area of soft skills - helping people engage and deliver to their potential - I have frequently heard "We're only focussing on hard skills. That's what we need right now. That soft stuff is too hard to measure and it takes too long". Yet, the soft stuff is what drives the improved and sustained results they're looking for in their bottom line and shareholder returns.
It's much easier to see, assess and measure improvements in hard skills. It is possible though to gauge the impact of softer skills on bottom line, particularly over time. In recent years, we've read books• that outline sustained superior business results from focussing on the soft stuff - business purpose; style of leadership where the leader sees him- or herself as being in service to the people and organisation rather than in control; where people are recognised as critical to the success of the organisation and every effort is made to ensure their work is meaningful for them because their unique contribution is so valuable; where the philosophy of finding the right people, then putting them into the jobs they can best use their skills, to name just a few. The companies profiled in the books below significantly outperformed their competition year after year because they focussed on the soft stuff.
I think finding a way to incorporate soft skills into any organisation is well worth the effort for now and for the future. What do you think? I'd love to hear.
All the very best
Suzanne
• Books such as "Built to Last" (Porras & Collins) "Good to Great" (Collins), "Firms of Endearment" (Sisodia, Sheth & Wolf), "The Speed of Trust" (Covey Jr.), "Meaning, Inc." (Baines), "Purpose. The starting point of great companies" (Mourkogiannis)
Comments
Post has no comments.