True Value
In this edition of the 'The Art of Engineering Value', let's take a look at what value truly is in a business context.
What is the True Value of a staff member, a job, a team, a group, a company?
The True Value of an individual member of staff is measured by a few variables.
Desirability of the end product of the work -- The greater the need for it -- better worded as indispensability -- the better its perceived value.
The quality of work in the form of timeliness, meeting (or exceeding) expectations agreed upon prior to start of the work, the manner in which it is done and delivered (was it done with a frown or with a smile) all contribute to the perceived value of work done.
Repeatability of the work done, the lower it is, the higher the value of the work. An architectural design job for example is higher in value than the construction job that follows it, as the former is not done by rote, while the latter is well codified to make the task not require creative skill but make do with training and experience.
Replaceability occurs due to either the work being easily repeatable by something or someone else, or due to a lower cost economic option available to do the same work.
Change in technology and work methods are one cause of a job or work being replaced either by automation or elimination of the step or steps.
Outsourcing the job or function to an area that has a lower economic cost of production is another way to replace a job or function.
So bringing these things together, the safest place to be economically, in any given sphere of activity, is by choosing to work on what is needed or wanted, doing it well and choosing those that are the least repeatable.
This when it is true for a business (company), produces an economic engine that assures revenue, jobs and handsome profit.
There is a further angle to the desirability of work or a work product -- where does it fall in the hierarchy of needs?
The lower the work or work product is in the hierarchy of needs (picture above) the more it is essential or indispensable. Any work done that caters to physiological needs are resilient to downturns in the economy.
Now resilience doesn't mean that there won't be slight reduction in revenue (or income). It's a falsity of the capitalistic economic model to always expect growth. The stock market just amplifies this false idea by rewarding growth and penalizing minor or moderate declines. Anything in nature fluctuates, there is an ebb and flow, there is growth, decline, decay and death. So why should a company not have an ebb and flow or career not have an ebb and flow?
The modern payroll based job with a fixed income is an outcome of economic models that came out of the industrial age. In an effort to have a relatively fixed cost of production (although labor is a variable cost to production in manufacturing), the modern pay system came about, but it was cemented in a way by Banks with their mortgages, loans etc., insurance companies with their premiums, health insurance companies with their ever growing premiums. All these have created a model that requires an individual to make a certain amount of money just to live, let alone enjoy life and live it fully. This is passed onto businesses (employers), in a way, and is respected as such in some parts of the world notably Japan where lifetime employment was (and probably still is) an expected exchange between employer and employed.
Coming back to the subject of Value and its relation to the hierarchy of needs, the more levels of the hierarchy a job or business caters to, the better its prospects in terms of durability. You have technology products from Apple and Tesla for example covering the the lower four levels of the hierarchy. That gives a sense of indispensability to those products and combine that with a perception of quality and status (fourth level in the hierarchy), it makes a pretty robust business that can defy trends in the economy.
Now bringing this back to the level of an individual, a robust career is a function of an individual catering to the different needs of the hierarchy of those around them, in a professional sense of course. The better they help secure or enable the safety, belonging, esteem and self-actualization (living to one's potential) of others, the better their career strength over time.
This brings up an interesting case, a very vital one indeed -- that of ALIGNMENT.
When there is alignment of purpose, of intention, of ethical values between an individual and their team members (which includes as well managers all the way up to senior management and the company's board there) then there is thriving and growth.
When alignment is absent regardless of who is on the right side or wrong side of ethical values, purpose or intention, the one that is not in a position of power (the one that is lower in the hierarchy) will lose. I have experienced this several years ago at a job that I was great at, but the alignment factor was out when it came to a question of business ethics and business values. It didn't matter that I had what I considered to be the right view of what is right for the business and all its stakeholders -- including its licensor. I didn't win, because I was lower in the hierarchy and I was no longer aligned with those higher in the hierarchy.
TRUE VALUE is thus comprised of these factors of desirability or need, quality of work or work products, degree of repeatability of producing the work product (higher the degree of creative thought needed, lower the degree of repeatability) and alignment of purpose, intention and values. These together determine what can be exchanged with another, be it an individual, team or group or customers/clients, in terms of monetary value or intangible value -- goodwill.
Success thus is pre-determined by the above factors as is failure.
Success as well as failure is not permanent and is transient. The only way either can be permanent is to create it consciously (and sometimes not so consciously, which often is the case with failure). And it is permanent only so long as it is created every moment, every day.
Success, thus can be created by conscious effort every moment, every day when it is done with integrity -- being true to oneself and others and ensuring that values are aligned. Economic success will follow, as it is merely an agreed upon measure of value.
To your success and those of others around you!
Winning is a team activity. Go win something together!