Corporate Memory Fading Towards a Disaster?
Alzheimer's Disease attacks the cells of the brain associated with memory eroding the ability of the individual to recollect common names and procedures. It is a bewildering disease to those affected and ultimately leaves the individual dependent on others for day to day survival.
It appears that modern businesses are being afflicted with the same degenerative disease. The corporate memory is being eroded.
Consider the way work used to be: either through your early experiences or those captured or represented by film. The reassuring source to hear about your problems or to pass on the latest gossip used to be the tea lady. The person to tell you where some lost item was hidden or who had the keys was the resident caretaker or cleaner. The maintenance man could fix anything and deliver the latest joke or discussion about the weekend's football. The office junior used to scurry around delivering the mail and remind you of the energy of youth. The personal secretary used to remember everyone's birthday and pick up all those little loose ends that would otherwise not get done and were actually quite important.
These people also tended to be long term and could relate what action was taken to the circumstance now presenting that previously had not been seen for twenty years. These people were the heart and soul of organisations and provided the human lubricant that made work real, meaningful and an important part of life.
But these people have been replaced by computer chips and keyboards, call centres with productivity metrics and databanks with electronic keys. These new age libraries do not recall the corporate memory; the little things that make a difference when dealing with people.
The trouble is a new age focus on measurement doesn't provide the right numbers to defend these bastions of human capital and so they were an easy target when reducing head count is the mantra that emanates from head office.
So will there be a new drug to cure the Alzheimer's of business? Probably some consultant will suggest 360?feedback, power circles, a weekend away team building or some new game.
But it might be as simple as reintroducing the tea lady.
And this needs to be done before the corporate memory is completely lost.
When did you last do an audit of your corporate memory? (and don't say you can't recall!)