The Release of Human Capital
The word release has several interesting meanings, each of which helps inform the strategies being described in this book. One meaning of the word concerns the removal of barriers so that a dynamic system might move forward in a specific direction. De Soto’s mountain lake illustrates this use of the term. When engineers design a system to make full use of the potential energy contained in the lake’s water, they construct some device that first holds back or channels the water, then releases it through a system of turbines. In a similar manner, the role of leadership in an appreciative organization is to identify strengths in the organization. They then structure and channel these strengths, so that they might be released with maximum impact. Appreciation is not just a process of recognition; it is also a process of design. Appreciation provides direction for the dynamic forces that operate in an organization.
The word ‘release’ also conveys the idea of being set free, of being unbound. Release enables a transformation from captivity to freedom. Restriction, repression and confinement are removed, as in a convict’s release from prison. From our own experiences as organizational consultants and coaches, we both know that the appreciative strategies offered in this book are often experienced as a release from a psychic captivity for the employees who benefit from their use. We propose throughout this section of the book that the traditional deficit approach to human resource management is outmoded in a Twenty First Century world that is filled with knowledge workers and independent contractors.
The deficit approach is destructive. It discourages innovation and depresses employee morale. It imprisons people, who yearn for liberty. De Soto proposes that poverty doesn’t eliminate the accumulation of capital. It only eliminates the capacity of poor people to make use of the capital they have accumulated. Similarly, a deficit approach to human resource management doesn’t eliminate the knowledge, skills and aptitude of an organization’s employees; it only eliminates the capacity and willingness of these employees to reveal and make use of these competencies on behalf of the organization. An employee who is released from the prison of negativity and deficits will be released on her own recognizance. She will be free to make choices and be appreciated for distinctive contributions she makes to her organization.
