Singularity - the state when machines become smarter than humans. I was reading an interview of Jim Buckmaster, the CEO of Craigslist, in Fortune Magazine in which he stated that "in ten years we may be approaching the Singularity. Aside from some sci-fi movies this was the first time I had heard this concept expressed, but given how rapidly computers are advancing the day may come. Couple the advances in computers with the dulling down of our educational systems and while Singularity does not look certain, it may well be possible.
This also calls to mind a recent cartoon in Fax Times that showed a man seated at a computer talking to his spouse with the caption "I don't know what is obsolete, the program, the computer, or me. How will we insure that we do not become obsolete?
You will probably remember my discourse about the Associate Superintendent of Education who thought he no longer needed to teach math or spelling, only how to use a calculator or spell checker. While he may be accelerating Singularity I did find it highly encouraging that my most recent undergraduate class of students rebelled at any suggestion that an education was not important or that knowledge of certain principles could be replaced by a Google search.
I think the key to avoiding Singularity in your enterprise lies in your employees. This suggests that you need to both select the best employees and then motivate them to excel. Selecting the best employees not only means selecting those with the highest education or best qualifications or most experience, it also means selecting the employee whose beliefs and value systems match yours and the company's.
If we think about style or match to your company's values, at one extreme of management or employee style we have those individuals who want to be given a challenge and then allowed to both figure out how to achieve the desired results and maximize their success. At the other extreme we find those employees who want to be told what to do step-by-step and who will wait to be told what to do next without taking any initiative.
Depending on your company's culture and values hiring the wrong type individual will lead to a person who quickly becomes frustrated with the way in which he or she is managed and will leave for the first opportunity that presents itself. I think this suggests that it is not only important to test for intelligence or physical skills, but also to look for the attitude and value measures like energy, flexibility, and assertiveness to name just a few of these less tangible but equally important attributes or style characteristics.
In addition to selecting the right candidate, it is probably even more important to nurture and develop them once they are employed and part of the team. One overlooked tool for this nurturing and development is the performance appraisal system. Unfortunately, this annual event is all too often looked at as a punishment rather than a motivational tool.
Fortunately, as computers and systems become more sophisticated, there are programs that not only provide direction for this activity, but also make it much more motivational for the person being evaluated and plausible for the person doing the evaluation.
If you move the performance appraisal process to a point where the employee can easily compare his or her performance to established and agreed upon standards or expectations then he or she is constantly aware of how well they are meeting expectations and if there are any areas where they should concentrate additional efforts.
I am reminded of the story of the office manager of a small manufacturer, a crotchety old gentleman, who came to his desk each morning and immediately opened the bottom left hand drawer, looked in and then immediately closed the drawer. Obviously this behavior had everyone in the office wondering what he is doing - what was in that bottom drawer, but because of his nature no one was willing or dared to ask. This behavior continued until the day he died at his desk on the job. Immediately following the funeral everyone gathered around his desk to find out exactly what is in that bottom drawer. They open the drawer and there was one piece of paper on which is written "debits on the left, credits on the right.
Obviously that single sheet of paper gave him direction for his workday. This is exactly how I believe performance appraisal should function. First and foremost that sheet should clearly delineate performance standards or expectations that will improve company operations and that the employee has agreed are reasonable, achievable, and motivational. Once that level of goals are established the employee can open his or her bottom desk drawer at any time and personally review how well they are meeting or exceeding established expectations.
In fact, I prefer NOT to think of PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL as a process. Rather I prefer to think of PERFORMANCE PLANNING and APPRAISAL as the right process. The implication being that the planning part of the process is much more important than the final tally of results or the annual appraisal session. In addition to making this a motivational tool you are also eliminating that sometimes adversarial experience that can occur when an employee comes to the appraisal session without a clear understanding of, and agreement to, the performance expectations that have been established.
Are you maximizing your employees to maximize your profits? Will a motivational performance appraisal system help? As I mentioned, tools are available to enhance both the selection and appraisal processes.
Copyright 2007 J.E. Mittler & Company. All rights reserved.
