Almost all of us think of one another as individual human beings. This way of thinking about one another is pervasive. Even in business, when we hire people, we think we are hiring individuals. When we form departments, we do so by putting individuals together. And this mode of regarding ourselves has been operational from the beginnings of business.

But things have been changing over recent decades, and they have been accelerating recently. Competition has been intensifying. Accountability has been tightening, and every year, our businesses have had to become more productive. In simple terms, with each coming year, businesses have to generate more revenues with less investment.

There is no indication that the speed of change, the intensity of competition, or the tightening of accountability - are likely to stop, or even let up. So it may be high time we ask whether there might be a better, more productive way to get more productivity out of our investment in human resources.

One promising way to regard human resources might be to UNBUNDLE individual humans into the major layers of resources contained in each individual. Human beings are extremely complex entities, each possessing relationships, physical labor, material and financial resources, expertise, and knowledge.

How would your business look if we instead of looking at it as a single horizontal nexus of people, we UNBUNDLED this single layer in a way that reveals all the resources bundled in each individual as separate layers of resources? When we UNBUNDLE your human resources in this way, we get a three dimensional cylindrical space full of different kinds of resources, comprising at least six horizontal layers, five of which are each located vertically at a different height above the original horizontal network of the physical form and might individuals.

1. The bottom-most unbundled layer comprises the physical labor and skills (each one's physical might in the sense of elbow-grease). This layer can be sub-bundled into different aspects of physical labor, such as stamina, strength and concentration, etc.

2. The second unbundled layer of contacts and relationships among the individuals that comprise the network. This layer can easily be sub-unbundled according to the basis of contacts and relationships - colleagues, superiors, subordinates, supplieres, customers, family, neighbours, school-mates, work-mates, fellow-believers, etc.

3. The third unbundled layer of material resources (each one's material and financial possessions). This layer can be sub-unbundled into things, real estate, cash, and credit (borrowing power).

4. The fourth unbundled layer of conceptual expertise (each one's familiarity with various ways of thinking). This layer can be sub-unbundled into creative, rational, social, evaluative skills.

5. The fifth unbundled layer of conceptual convictions (each one's reliable conceptual content). This layer can be further unbundled into experience, knowledge, and beliefs.

6. The sixth unbundled layer of conceptual motivations (each one's agendas). This layer can be further unbundled into intentions, aims, goals, objectives, purposes and missions.

When we look at these six layers, we immediately realize that most of the latent energy in the network is to be found in the top-most motivations layer of the cylinder of unbundled human resources, and that the five layers below it are support layers toward the fulfillment of the latent purposes and intentions that are inherent in one's motivations.

Accordingly, this ceiling layer of unbundled MOTIVATIONS comprises the propulsive power of your business. This energy is manifest in the willingness of each individual, already, to expend one's own resources (including time and effort) in the other layers of resources - toward the fulfillment of purposes or intentions that manifest one's motivations.

So the first way to harness all this energy is by aligning the motivation of the business with all the motivations existing in the unbundled ceiling layer. This means we mush show every individual how one's own motivation to get ahead and be more successful can be fulfilled by adopting the purposes of the business and fulfilling them.

The second way to harness all these unbundled resources is to identify and align those at each level of resources with the businesses' own primary motivations, so that they can be used and applied in the interest of the business regardless of their respective physical or geographical location.

Only the lowest layer of unbundled resources, namely, the physical labor and skills is geographically anchored. And even this can change through travel and relocation.

Most of the other layers of unbundled resources are transferable across space, primarily through information and communications technologies, and are therefore not bound with the physical form in which they appear to be confined.

This means that the proper application of information and communications technologies can be used to deploy all the other layers of resources and motivations according to the organizations needs.

Our world changes primarily through the fulfillment of our most intense purposes and intentions, because the emotional energy of these 'motivations' can harness the network resources more easily than most other kinds of effort to make things happen.

To sum up, unbundling human resources and regarding most of them as resources that are independent of the physical human form in which they appear to be located, and learning to apply information and communcations technologies to deploy these geographically liberated resources - might effect a substantial productivity boost to your business.

Over 30 years world-class experience in strategic marketing, market research, branding, communications, and design for top global companies in USA, UK, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and India.

Participated in building scores of major global brands, including AT&T, IBM, Kodak, CitiBank, ICI, AT&T Wireless, AT&T Business, Sperry Rand, Remington, Memorex, Frito-Lays, Pampers, Tide, Camay, Mr, Clean, Dash, Spic 'n Span, Ariel, Head & Shoulders, Vicks Vaporub, Good Year Tyres, Band-Aid, Horlicks, Aga Lux Batteries, Saridon, Aspro, Shell Oil and Cadburys.

Formerly: CEO Saatchi & Saatchi Middle East Region. Management Director, Young & Rubicam Frankfurt, Germany. Account Director, Young & Rubicam, NY, USA. Regional Brand Director, Asia Pacific, AT&T Corp. NY, USA. Co-Founder, Frankfurter Ring, Frankfurt, Germany. Commissioner of Civil Rights, Princeton, NJ USA. Director of the Board of Ethics, Princeton, NJ, USA. Treasurer, Ethical Culture Fellowship. Princeton. USA.

Currently: EVP Senior Operations Strategist, Stealing Share Inc. New York, NY & Greensboro NC.

Source: www.articletrader.com