Before I ‘get into it’ - my apologies for missing this week’s ‘long form’ People First newsletter. No excuse, but a very good reason that I will write about in next week’s edition.

Meanwhile, the ‘Short Sharp Shock’ continues. Just like life … right?

Fixing Wrongs

In last week’s issue, I referenced Geoffrey Moore’s book ‘The Infinite Staircase’ and commented that I disagreed with him regarding a statement he made regarding ‘values’. Happy to report that Geoffrey ‘put me right’ in the comment section … and we are all now back on the same page!

This Week’s Observation

… emerges from some work I am doing around ‘team friction’. More to come when we are ready, but for now, would be great to hear your thoughts.

If you are a LinkedIn member, you might want to comment there, or you can add your thoughts here.

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My PoV

The next time HR or your line manager talks to you about the company's '360-degree assessment' model, stop for two minutes and think about what is being asked of you.

Quite apart from the mathematician in me screaming for a 4π Steradian model (We are after all people living in a three-dimensional world), there are so many more facets to people than these models allow for.

'Ten Off The Top'

• Results are presented as absolute. They aren't, they are relative.

• Models only measure what you think of, not what you need.

• Complexity is reduced to abstract, over-simplistic homilies.

• Assessments should be integrated into the business, but more often than not are just 'one more thing that needs to be done'.

• Systems are gamed.

• Results are ignored.

• It's a 'We' world, not a 'Me' world.

• Context is lost faster than the exercise can be completed.

• Because you can measure something doesn’t mean you should.

• Because you can't measure something, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try.