Rethinking Human Capital (ePub)

The paradigm introduced in this book will unsettle many, frighten a few, and create hope for many if not all. Understanding the full range of individual talent and knowing which areas require development will result in a more effective commitment of resources and better utilization of talent in general. We are hurtling forward to a more automated and gig-centric world at a frenetic pace. Old ideas about how we value work and skills must give way to new views of basic competency; the foundation upon which we must build future organizations.

Targeting the right person for the right job begins with an understanding of the resources, the competencies represented by each, and the competencies required currently and into the future. Nowhere else is this truer than in the central tenet of this book- to rethink the classification, selection, utility, and development of human capital, our most critical resource.

Imagine a universe based on a commonly agreed world library of the smallest, granular learning blocks of competencies that can be learned in bursts, and that enables everyone to choose his or her individual path at any time and in any situation, without undergoing discrimination such as race, gender, age, skin color or wealth. This vision turns talent assessment on its ear and lays bare the concept of competency; reformulating a vehicle to build more productive enterprises.

"Competence is the ability, desire, and willingness to use a skill to consistent effect."