Linear or Exponential? Perceived VALUE of change

So here we are, a new iPhone with more cameras and iOS 13. Pardon my lack of excitement. The new iPhone is too safe. What I mean by that is… it’s Linear. Where’s the Steve Jobs disruption of the industry? Exciting people and gaining market share. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a big Apple fan, but I’m looking for more from the preeminent technology leader. Apple’s events have always been the pinnacle of marketing genius. The buzz and excitement of their products generally drive sales more so than any ad campaign. Known for their innovation, the last two years have been more linear in their releases than exponential. In this same vein, I started thinking are Organizations taking Linear approaches to their Talent Development strategy when they should be thinking Exponentially?
Just so we’re on the same page, Linear vs Exponential is the difference between a 10% change (Linear) or a 10 X change (Exponential). Linear is, we need to orbit the Earth. Exponential is we need to go to Mars! When it comes to the HR Perfect Storm, Linear thinking may not be enough to transition to the expectations of today’s talent.
The last two weeks I have had the privilege of sharing my thoughts about the HR Perfect Storm through a series of events including a Podcast, Webinar, Twitter Chat and a Customer Event. I love to share my perspective and hear from others how they view the HR Perfect Storm and their own challenges. Recently I’ve seen the Linear and Exponential approaches play out with two examples. The first, a Linear one where an organization is dealing with the challenge of too much content. The second, a small business that is considering leveraging HR Technology for the first time. Two organizations, two very different approaches.
What’s interesting about both scenarios of Linear vs. Exponential is the derived value from each approach. In the first example, a company with a mature and robust talent development environment has too much content. Their challenge is to gain the full value of their investment. An exponential move might resemble a dramatic shift away from a department centered curation to an audience one. A more linear approach might result in a traditional approach of aligning content to disciplines and roles.
In the second example, a small business is operating through manual paper processes with limited staff. They see positive growth projections, potentially doubling in size. A linear approach to this might involve incremental one-at-a-time additions of technology and people. An exponential move might be to lay the foundation for a complete HCM (scaled to their size and need) solution now. The smaller employee base would feel less impact now and the business would be able to scale much faster during it’s growth.
Both organizations must determine the value of their decisions with the cost both financially and operationally between linear or exponential change. What is worth noting is how HR can learn from these lessons. In the current HR Perfect Storm is Linear a safe bet or should organizations think Exponentially? Next week I’ll be heading to Las Vegas to attend HR Tech. I expect to see plenty of Exponential thinking on display in the massive Expo and Keynote sessions. Stay tuned for my thoughts on HR Tech in the coming weeks.