The Value of Human Pt 1

Rehumanising the conversation isn't just about protecting people. It's about understanding the value of human itself.

The other day I wrote about AI scaremongering and how misleading it is out of context. But the bigger point wasn't about what humans are at risk of losing; it was about AI automation not making the workplace ‘less human’. It will make being ‘intentionally human’ more important than ever. This needs to start with understanding what the ‘value of human’ actually means. Not the cost of it. Not the risk of losing it. The value it actively generates.

The ‘value of human’ is not about human values, or the value of human life, or human well-being, or individual contribution. It's what the human operating system can produce when it's healthy and intentionally designed.

People represent 70 to 80% of value in most businesses. Yet leaders have detailed dashboards for their business operating system and almost nothing equivalent for their human one. It gets managed reactively, if at all.

That's not strategy, it's maintenance and it's leaving significant value on the table. The businesses that will win aren't the ones who automate most or protect their people most vociferously. They're the ones who work out what their human system is actually worth and design to deliver it.

It starts with leaders being willing to ask a bigger question. One that genuinely connects the emotional and physical health of their people with the health of the business itself. Because when both are thriving, the real value of human reveals itself.