HUMAN

Humans are complex creatures. Our life depends less on instinct than other animals
and more on learning. Our brains develop and continue to grow, throughout our lives,
only beginning to deteriorate in the later stages of old age. We are social creatures too.
We live in large complex social structures, such as the work environment, composed of
many cooperating and competing groups. Curiosity and the desire to understand drive
us to explain and manipulate the surrounding environment and its resources. As a
species, we are unique; we have the power of choice. Every human who comes to work
can exercise options, be curious to learn; can continue to grow; can be sociable.

Contrast that with the developing world of Artificial Intelligence and robotics now
becoming commonplace at work. Again, it is humans who program choice, embed the
learning, develop the algorithm. However, there seem to be many frets about these
machines making us redundant. Indeed, these frets are natural to many who have lost
the basic human impulse of learning, growth, curiosity and conscious choice. Instead,
they have given themselves up to the machine already and convinced themselves that
redundancy is inevitable in the new world of work.

However, there is a new possibility—technology as a lever for making better humans of
us all. The soft-stuff of being more human is yet where the most significant opportunities
lie. When we allow ourselves to be more human, we realise the infinite potentials we
have that far exceed that of the latest technology when we tap into a more profound
knowledge of self. We need to grow that and bring that to work and use technology to
help us do it.

EMERGENCE

In philosophy, systems theory and science, emergence occurs when an entity has
properties its parts do not have independently. The properties or behaviours emerge
when the elements interact in the broader whole. In a work environment, emergence
occurs when the individual interacts with other human beings, the culture and the
systems and processes of the business. Each of these elements creates an
environment where individuals can realise things they may not have if they are alone.
Therefore the work environment can be a catalyst wherein the individual can work on
their emergence found in the broader whole of work. The work environment then
becomes an essential strategy for an individual who has the potential to grow.

Unfortunately, most employees fail to see this opportunity. Instead, they have a short-
term time horizon where they consider work as supplying just a means to an end, such
as mortgage payments and food for the family.

The work environment can be an individual’s dojo, an environment where they can learn
more about themselves and discover talents unbeknown to themselves. They emerge!
They become more valuable to themselves than they thought and more valuable to the
business and others too.

No more is this the case when someone begins to take on the mantel of leadership. Up
until the point of promotion, work was the domain of individual performance. In
leadership, a cocktail of additional elements contributes to an increase in workplace
complexity. The opportunity leads to the possibility of personal emergence.

LOGISTICS

So, let’s bring these two factors together, humans with emergence, and explore a
couple of ways to make deliberate, logistical actions to maximise both.

We first must realise that humans are more important than the tasks that they do and
the tasks they do are more important than the system or technology. Logistically, our
first task is to reverse a common occurrence that seems to permeate many workplace
environments; that is, the system is more important than the tasks. The tasks to be
done are more important than the people doing the tasks.

An organisation is only as good as its people. People are the most expensive line item
on any balance sheet, yet the knowledge of how to maximise the asset value of people
in organisations remains in popular trends and fads; none of it is measurable or
scientific. We can leverage our understanding of algorithms and data through
technology to aid in the emergence of better humans. It is called Human Emergence
Logistics.

The second logistical approach is to assist our people in developing a better
understanding of themselves. When the true potential and the opportunity for
development are deliberately intertwined, emergence takes place. There is a need for
human logistics skill in organisations to do that. Too often, the potential of human effort
for superior performance deteriorates by leaders’ ham-fisted, ill-informed attempts to
improve it. It never was and never will be a one-size-fits-all approach. Each individual is
unique and complex. Not realising that is a recipe for organisational disasters and has
no logistical rigour.

If an organisation wishes to be prominent and valued, the leadership must understand
how to maximise the businesses human capital logistically.

Human Emergence Logistics is the maximisation of fundamental human beingness
coupled with designed and curated environments to enable individuals to emerge to be
the best they can be at work and as human beings. It requires a set of logistical actions
to make the process measurable and scientific.

Every organisation needs a Human Emergence Logistics strategy.