Just like that...

This blog post is infact in response to a comment to my earlier post. I thank my readers for inducing such thoughts.


Here it goes…

I do not think employee engagement can be built when people are only expected to comply to systems and metrics blindly. The human ingenuity and judgement ability in such systems are curtailed so much that employees fear being flexible since they are unsure of the consequences that the same will have on them. Managers become controlling authorities rather than facilitating guides. It is the classical 'dam' and 'banks' story. A dam built on the river blocks the flow and release the same as per its will; whereas the banks only guide the flow in the right direction. The erosion of the banks happens when the roots holding the specs of soil together are cut or diminished. And erosion of banks is always fatal which no dam can contain. On the contrary if the banks are strong then the dams are of little significance, no matter how strong is the flow.

Systems and metrics are important but they must have enough flexibility built in them so as to allow to capacitate people and believe in their judgements. Just like clothes, are they important? Yes, of course, but should they be so tight as to suffocate a person making him incapable of breathing?