{"id":702,"date":"2007-05-09T01:00:49","date_gmt":"2007-05-09T09:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/systematichr.com\/?p=702"},"modified":"2007-05-09T01:00:51","modified_gmt":"2007-05-09T09:00:51","slug":"three-unpalatable-truths","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/systematichr.com\/?p=702","title":{"rendered":"Three Unpalatable Truths"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rob posted his three unpalatable truths<\/a> a couple weeks ago and applied them to the creation of strategy.\u00a0 As I thought about my definition of HR strategy as \u201cthe shaping of the workforce\u201d Rob\u2019s unpalatable truths hit me pretty hard.<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0\u00a0 THE FUTURE IS UNKNOWABLE
\n2.\u00a0\u00a0 RESULTS ARE OFTEN RANDOM AND UNPREDICTABLE
\n3.\u00a0\u00a0 NOT EVERYBODY IS, OR WANTS TO BE, AN OLYMPIC ATHLETE<\/p>\n

If the future truly is unknowable (and yes, it is – get used to it!) then the firm has to base it\u2019s strategy on a far more coarse grained view of the future than has been the norm in strategic planning. There are aspects of the firm’s possible futures that its owners can aspire to, irrespective of how that future unfolds. This needs to be the focus.<\/p>\n

Exactly the same principle needs to apply in our firms. We need clear, unambiguous, clearly communicated overarching goals, and then we need the freedom to start working towards them, each of us in our own daily practice and life. Not in accordance with a grandiose strategic plan, but step by step, persistently over time.\u00a0 ((Millard, Rob, March 7, 2007.\u00a0 \u201cThree Unpalatable Truths.\u201d\u00a0 Retrieved from http:\/\/www.robmillard.com on March 15, 2007.))<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

For whatever reason, I remembered an article I read a month back (can\u2019t remember from where so I can\u2019t reference it).\u00a0 In the true story, the corporate accounting office received a P.O. for a chimney from one of the regional businesses.\u00a0 Curious what this was about, they went for a site visit and found a fully constructed manufacturing plant.\u00a0 The only thing that the region could not strip down to a small enough component to slip it under the radar was the chimney.<\/p>\n

Bringing this closer to home, I remember an exchange<\/a> I had a couple weeks ago on this blog.\u00a0 In it, someone had challenged that the managers own performance management \u2013 an idea I heartily disagree with.\u00a0 I do understand that it\u2019s the managers who need to execute on performance, but it\u2019s still HR who needs to bring the goals, tools and plans to the table.<\/p>\n

How do we \u201cshape the workforce\u201d in an environment filled with doubt, with partners how do their own thing, and with managers who may or may not execute?\u00a0 The talent pool is often knowable, but their preferences are not.\u00a0 We deal today with knowing exactly what cities will have the best talent pools in five years, but the quickly shifting preferences of the new generations of workers and the shifting needs of the baby boomers makes this more complex than just understanding where the good people are.<\/p>\n

Rob is also correct that not everyone wants to be an Olympic athlete.\u00a0 You can\u2019t shape the unshapable.\u00a0 You can only concentrate on your strategy and go for the 80% who are shapable and hope you keep the 20% who will eventually make a difference.\u00a0 In the end, we apply broad policies, but let\u2019s not fool ourselves thinking we have a global audience.\u00a0 Our audience is small.\u00a0 It\u2019s the senior talent, the innovators and the collaborators.\u00a0 We don\u2019t know the future, but if we can cast a wide net, we\u2019ll hopefully catch the ones we need to.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rob posted his three unpalatable truths a couple weeks ago and applied them to the creation of strategy.\u00a0 As I thought about my definition of HR strategy as \u201cthe shaping of the workforce\u201d Rob\u2019s unpalatable truths hit me pretty hard….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[37,10,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-702","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-change-management","category-engagement","category-strategies"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/systematichr.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/702","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/systematichr.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/systematichr.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/systematichr.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/systematichr.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=702"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/systematichr.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/702\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/systematichr.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=702"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/systematichr.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=702"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/systematichr.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=702"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}