Wasted Potential in Organizations

By: Dr. Bill Anton

I read an article some time ago in the Harvard business that stated:

“To an extent that we ourselves are only beginning to appreciate, most people at work, even in high-performing organizations, divert considerable energy every day to a second job that no one has hired them to do: preserving their reputations, putting their best selves forward, and hiding their inadequacies from others and themselves. We believe this is the single biggest cause of wasted resources in every company today.”
This means that if each person is individually wasting a large percentage their own energy, time, and effort with this behavior, what is the impact collectively across a business? If each individual could use just an extra 10% of their potential towards focused and creative energy, how would that compound across the organization?

I couldn’t agree more!

Source: Kegan, R., Lahey, L., Fleming, A., & Miller, M. (2014, April). Making business personal: Companies that turn employees’ struggles into growth opportunities are discovering a new kind of competitive advantage. Harvard Business Review.