The HR Legacy

“The greatest legacy is that which benefits the widest number of people for the longest period without limit to value”.

Many of us are so caught up with daily work that we often fail to see the purpose of our very existence. We may argue that we are hired to do a job, to get things done – nothing more or less. For many of us, that works just fine, as that leaves us with room for our family and other things that are important to us.

Yet, for many of us who are HR leaders, the profession is no longer about getting things done. It is about leaving a lasting legacy. But again, that’s something that many of us would think wishfully, yet few would ever achieve. Those of us who are not in a position of organisational leadership may think that legacies are for CEOs; after all Jack Welch and Lee Iacocca are not HR directors. But you are far from right.

All of us, regardless of our place in the organisation and society have the ability to leave a lasting legacy. As HR professionals, we can create values so powerful that we will be remembered for generations. Leaders and legends come from all walks of life. But they have a few things in common: strong personal values, inextinguishable passion, and a burning desire to succeed. Key here is having strong personal values as opposed to merely supporting business values – to be able to define ourselves and our organisations instead of being defined by the rules that we sometimes inevitably help create.

ARE YOU UP TO IT?
However, many of the legends as we know them – people we read in business school textbook, people whose name adorn great halls and public buildings, have made sacrifices so great many of us would shudder to even consider. Many of these have shattered families, spouses who cannot live along with a seemingly selfish character, children who grew up never seeing their parent. Many of the greats lived a life misunderstood, hated even, and generally fighting to correct the perception. So how would you juggle this mismatch of public perception and reality?

Often, however, we can create our own legacy by just doing what we do, but a little differently, a little more passionately. That way, we leave behind a lasting history – be it in the systems that we create, the values that we instil, the culture that we build or simply, the leaders that we help mould.

When we set out to create HR Asia, for example, we know we are not just merely creating a magazine, but a mean to create a profession that is rich in leadership in thoughts and actions. Perhaps, that will be the legacy that we will leave behind.

Ultimately as HR professionals, all of us have a choice. To live a conventional life, or to leave behind a legacy. But if we live our daily life with the conscious effort to create a legacy in whatever we do, then we are already a step closer to creating one.

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This appeared in my note on the editor's page of the latest HR Asia. To get a copy, visit your nearest bookstore, or alternatively if you are a senior HR professional, email chro@hrasiamedia.com for free subscription.

Long Tail or Tall Tale?

There’s so much talks about the ‘long tail strategy’ of late that if you are like me, you would start wondering – does it work? Well, I tell you upfront that I am never a fan of ‘theories’. Theories are for academics, not entrepreneurs. And ‘The Long Tail’, to me, is nothing more than a theory.

A bit of backgrounder is in order here. Chris Anderson, editor of Wired magazine, made a huge splash with The Long Tail, which was first published by the magazine in 2004 and then as a book in 2006. In a nutshell, the long tail theory says that the abundance and ease of choice on the Internet has shifted sales potential from a small number of mainstream "hits" (at the front of the demand curve) toward a near-endless number of lesser-known choices at the tail (hence a ‘long’ tail).

Furthermore, because retail economics restrict stores to carrying only the best-selling products, items that are new in the market and have either lost their appeal or were never popular in the mainstream are pushed out - along with their sunk costs. But then come the Internet, with its infinite "shelf space", making every product discoverable and ready to be purchased. The book has become something of a holy document in the Internet community where companies ("from Amazon to iTunes," says Anderson on his website) want to find a way to sell old songs, movies, videos, ringtones, on-demand books and television shows from their infinite Web warehouses. Case studies flew up everywhere. Locally, we even have pseudo-experts claiming they are now experts on long tails and making all kinds of business consultations to companies.

The new ‘Blue Ocean Strategy’?
Personally, I thought it is a little bit of an oversell. Or rather, I thought the concept vastly overdramatized the effect of a small minority of "committed seekers" dedicated enough to something (comic books, copies of this magazine signed by me, etc...) to search for and purchase what the majority generally do not want. For the sake of democracy and capitalism, I sure like hell hope they are right.

However, when I looked around, in fact, it seemed that the rest of us were doing quite the opposite. The New York Times' Most Blogged, Most Emailed and Most Searched lists. Alexa’s ratings. Top TV Shows, Top Music, Top Movies on iTunes. Amazon.com's Sales Rank, and its Bestsellers list (updated hourly). Even my local DVD pirate has got a list of ‘must watch’ with him. The Internet appeared to be herding users more aggressively toward blockbusters, NOT away from them. So what long tail are we talking about?

Want some proof that the long tail is nothing more than long tale? There's a professor at Harvard Business School who has researched the long tail. Based on sales data for online video rentals and songs, Professor Anita Elberse verifies what I think: not only do hits continue to be just as important online as they are offline, but the Web is actually amplifying demands for hits.

Elberse also discusses what she and others view as an incorrect subjective assumption that Anderson made when building the long tail, which is the idea that people want to go their own way. They don't want to listen, watch or read what everyone else does, and would rather search along the Internet-superhighway for that piece of individuality. Who is he kidding? Elberse cites additional research showing how intensely social people really are: how we like sharing experiences with others and that the mere fact that others like something makes us like it even more. Just go to your Facebook account for a case study in experience sharing.

And Elberse and I are not alone. Neil Howe, who probably coined the term ‘Millennials’, draws a broad distinction between Gen X and this new influential group - the generation driving the most development and change on the Web. Among other things, while Boomers and Gen X "individuated," born-in-the-80s Millennials gravitate toward the social: chat rooms, instant messaging, Facebook. They enjoy being with each other, forming friendships and shared preferences. Rather than acting independently, Millennials who spend time customizing content on the Web do so for the purpose of sharing it with others (hence the YouTube phenomenon). The need to be accepted and conforming is never stronger than with the millennials.

Howe says it is and will be "the most connected generation in world history," and that their preferences will only solidify the popularity of mainstream, popular brands and products. Finally, Elberse and The Wall Street Journal's Lee Gomes also believe that the Internet community unconsciously may have wanted to back the theory because it flattered its citizenry. Long tail strength would fortify the value of new digital assets created outside the walls of institutional, cultural power. And bloggers are cool, say the Long Tail worshippers, because the long tail promises an audience for just about any goofy comment out there.

This is all probably true, but it's a little too much of a bullshit for me to buy.

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Read more of the same by William Ng in this month's SME Magazine!