My manager reviewed the org chart along with the budget. “I need to cut the budget. Which resources can we cut?”

“Well, I don't think we can cut software licenses,” I was reviewing my copy of the budget. “I don't understand this overhead item here,” I pointed to a particular line item.

“No,” he said. “I'm talking about people. Which people can we lay off? We need to cut expenses.”

“People aren't resources! People finish work. If you don't want us to finish projects, let's decide which projects not to do. Then we can re-allocate people, if we want. But we don't start with people. That's crazy.” I was vehement.

My manager looked at me as if I'd grown three heads. “I'll start wherever I want,” he said. He looked unhappy.

“What is the target you need to accomplish? Maybe we can ship something earlier, and bring in revenue, instead of laying people off? You know, bring up the top line, not decrease the bottom line?”

Now he looked at me as if I had four heads.

“Just tell me who to cut. We have too many resources.”

When managers think of people as resources, they stop thinking. I'm convinced of this. My manager was under pressure from his management to reduce his budget. In the same way that technical people under pressure to meet a date stop thinking, managers under pressure stop thinking. Anyone under pressure stops thinking. We react. We can't consider options. That's because we are so very human.

People are resourceful. But we, the people, are not resources. We are not the same as desks, licenses, infrastructure, and other goods that people need to finish their work.

We need to change the language in our organizations. We need talk about people as people, not resources. And, that is the topic of this month's management myth: Management Myth 32: I Can Treat People as Interchangeable Resources.

Let's change the language in our organizations. Let's stop talking about people as “resources” and start talking about people as people. We might still need layoffs. But, maybe we can handle them with humanity. Maybe we can think of the work strategically.

And, maybe, just maybe, we can think of the real resources in the organization. You know, the ones we buy with the capital equipment budget or expense budget, not operating budget. The desks, the cables, the computers. Those resources. The ones we have to depreciate. Those are resources. Not people.

People become more valuable over time. Show me a desk that does that. Ha!

Go read Management Myth 32: I Can Treat People as Interchangeable Resources.

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