All projects are human capital projects

Wait, wait, wait … this feels like a fellowship, not a project!

All the projects underway across your company share one, elemental risk: all projects across your company are human capital projects.

The valuation of a company usually involves four areas:

1. Physical capital,
2. Financial capital,
3. Intellectual capital, and
4. Human capital

Valuation is a combination of science, art, and voodoo (Enron anyone???). Voodoo aside, when I recast these valuations from a new angle, I see each, relies, in their entirety, on people:

1. Physical capital – people are trained to use, maximize, and maintain machines
2. Financial capital – people manage, buy, sell, and negotiate
3. Intellectual capital – people research (question/challenge) and invent
4. Human capital – people and their knowledge, skill, and abilities contribute individually and collectively as part of a company’s social network

If people are the lever for a company’s value, no amount of their knowledge, skills, and abilities will matter without their motivation.

When 70% – 80% of all projects fail, too much is at stake to ignore human capital. Understand concerns, motivations, and perceptions to mitigate risk to over look, or under-appreciate, stakeholder position.

Lose people’s motivation, you fail, your company fails, and your stakeholders fail. Identify groups and individuals with a stake in project success or failure.

When you cast all projects as human capital projects you can coach involvement, motivation, and performance.

Cast as human capital projects you can continually uncover your greatest asset – people.

P.S. Is it really an information technology or enterprise application issue???