OVERVIEW

Senior executives have been claiming for years that people are the organization's greatest asset. Chief executive officers typically state that their employees give the company its most competitive edge. Some people, on the other hand, state that individuals are replaceable, but is that really the case? Think about the situation where your leading expert will be retiring shortly and what you will do to replace his or her experience and expertise when this expert leaves. Or ponder how best the organization can leverage and share the knowledge of its employees and customers in order to stimulate innovation, promote a greater sense of belonging and community, and improve decision-making.

Organizations are rapidly realizing that their employees' brainpower is what distinguishes them from their competitors and it's not the one or two shining stars in the organization; it's the collective synergy of the organization's employee workforce. There have been baseball teams that have made it to the World Series without having many named players. It's the knowledge sharing process and the ability to work well with each other that has contributed to the success of many ball clubs. The same is true of organizations. The collective talent of the employees (including management) can provide a powerful mechanism for ensuring organizational success. Their collective wisdom can be transformed into organizational intelligence whereby the organization can become an agile, adaptive learning organization. The key to making this happen comes back to "the people" or the organization's "human capital."

What do we mean by...