Building on the piece on Managing Intangibles, I'm planning on adding some further examples of the increasing significance of intangibles in management. The first comes via the Bradman Group and CIO Magazine and is titled "9 Reasons Why Application Developers Think Their CIO Is Clueless". Some select examples;
1. The CIO is a control nut.
2. The CIO is aloof.
6. The CIO thinks changes can happen overnight.
7. The CIO doesn't know the difference between resources and talent.
The second, via the BBC and Leatherhead Blog talks about the idea that "Nurses are to be rated on compassion". From the BBC;
Nurses are to be rated according to the levels of care and empathy they give to patients under government plans. Health Secretary Alan Johnson... believes compassionate care was as crucial to the recovery of patients as the skills of surgeons. Mr Johnson said: "What nurses tell us is that you can have the best surgeon in the world, who carries out the most terrific operation on you, but your stay in hospital won't be satisfactory if you don't get a high level of compassion and care."
By Robby Slaughter July 10, 2008 - 3:13 pm
Intangibles are what make organizational systems humane. However, these aspects are hard to measure using traditional analysis, and therefore more impactful.
The article from CIO magazine demonstrates a weak form of assessing intangibles mostly through generic platitudes and advisories. I’ve authored a full response you might enjoy. Check it out at:
http://www.robbyslaughter.com/blog/?2008-07-08