Earlier today, I heard someone say that the success of their organization is directly attributed to the people within the organization. If you’ve read my posts here or elsewhere, you may be surprised to hear that I don’t necessarily agree with that notion.
While I believe that an organization cannot be successful without qualified, engaged, and high-performing people, I think that what is being done is as important as who is doing it. That is, you can have the best people in the world working for you, but if they’re in the wrong role, or if they’re not working together, or if they’re working on the wrong things, it will be impossible to create long term success. Conversely, many organizations have found success (if for only a short while) with mediocre employees, simply by being in the right business at the right time.
For those familiar with the instant-classic Good to Great by Jim Collins, this is an argument against First Who, Then What. In fact, in my experience, the path to success is really a tightrope balancing act- navigating the management of the Hedgehog Concept vs. Getting the Right People on the bus in the right seats. If you don’t know what your organization can be the successful at, it is quite impossible to determine who the right people are- what skills, experience, temperament, knowledge, etc., do you need?
The old adage that the only constant in business is change is undeniable, making it ever more important to ensure you organization is focusing it’s human capital in the right direction. At the same time, it’s just as crucial that you have the right people in place to set your course, with the skills and abilities necessary to achieve success as you move into uncharted waters.
As a human capital theorist and philosopher, I find myself constantly searching for the core factors of organizational success. While this is perhaps a fruitless exploration, as so many external and internal influences impact success, I do believe that there are general principles that will yield desired levels of results in the majority of business environments.
That being said, I’m not sure which is more important in today’s climate- the hedgehog or the people.
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