"Taking Stock", Gaining Perspective

In the early days of my career "taking stock" (or "counting inventory") was one of those dreaded jobs into which everyone was co-opted. Any which way one labelled it - and whatever "games" one played to relieve the monotony - this was one tedious, time-consuming yet short-lived exercise to establish an accurate, itemised list of current assets. It was an exercise in frustration, no matter how accurate. Few, if any, ever had full sight of the various components, how they hung together, or their true value.

In Performance Management, each individual develops a Personal Inventory. Typically, this is a statement of current skills. Useful, perhaps, in re-inforcing self-perceptions of intellectual adequacy and practical talents; yet only occasionally used to determine opportunities for contribution and development.

So, why bother "take stock"?. What value is there in a Personal Inventory?, you ask.

While inventory items may be simple, human beings are complex. We are the sum of our values, perspectives, skills, attitudes and actions. And we are more. And still there is no greater return on investment than in individual growth and development.

Skills are the easy components. It is the attitudes that bind the skills that add the real value and true development. So, rather than simply taking stock of what we know and what we can do, why don't we count the contributions we do - and could - deliver. After all, our true value is recognized by the difference we make in each others' lives.

"I don't care how much you know, until I know how much you care."