Abominations Part 4

The final installment of this 4-part series talks about the balance Scaleable Empowerment℠ will emphasize for companies seeking to strategically position themselves for post-pandemic survival.

5/23/20222 min read

An acquaintance, a LeanSixSigma Green Belt who read my previous post about safety pins and cow-slaughtering, had recently asked whether Scaleable Empowerment℠ is actually pro-business or pro-employee. After a quick look out onto the street, the only 2 words I uttered in response were "Claire Danes". Having been belatedly reminded of the propensity of metaphors (slaughtering cows) and hyperbole (using safety pins) for misinterpretation, I thanked the gentleman for supplying the idea for this 4-part series.

The expression “2 sides of the same coin” would be one of my favorites in the English language.

Interestingly, of many 2-character expressions in Mandarin, the characters “危机”, for “crisis”, also strongly resonate with me. To dissect, “危” (wéi) also happens to be the character for “danger” or “risk”, while “机” (jī), the character for “opportunity”. It’s basically a short way of saying there is opportunity to be found in risk.

Similarly dissecting Scaleable Empowerment℠, the word “scaleable” definitely alludes to growth, which would be the rationale for any idea acted upon by any business owner. “Empowerment” hints at fulfillment of one’s potential, which is what most motivated employees aspire for. Taken together, Scaleable Empowerment℠ will involve both business owners and their employees, each occupying one side of the same coin.

In these past 2 pandemic years, we came across terms like “work from home”, “online meetings”, etc. We’ve also seen how many in LinkedIn seemed to have found their voice in taking up the cudgels for the average employee, directing hints at presumably horrible bosses. We have also seen the rise of virtual assistants, remote work and of former executives becoming consultants.

Almost 20 years to this day, I started my 6-year stint in business process outsourcing. As politically-charged as it may have been back then, outsourcing reflected the sign of the times, for the simple reason that it made sense. I seem to now have the same sentiment towards virtual assistants and remote work. The war for talent has just been joined. The paradigm is shifting, and with it, the power to determine one’s career is shifting from business owners, into the hands of employees, who, by becoming independent contractors, are themselves becoming business owners. This is internet democracy at its purest. The years to follow will only serve notice to all about the interdependent relationship between business owners and their employees/contractors. One cannot grow nor survive without the other.

Scaleable Empowerment℠ will not fixate on being either pro-business or pro-employee. Instead, it will put a lot of emphasis on common sense, and often that is all that’s typically necessary for survival. History repeatedly teaches that one has to be in a position to survive first, before even thinking about growth or fulfillment.

If Scaleable Empowerment were "pro-anything", it would be pro-common sense. (End of series)