A £1.91 e-book, edited by David D’Souza
Behind the story
Who says innovation and action are anathema to HR? Digital stalwart D’Souza put together this collection of blogs by popular HR voices in double quick-time, with proceeds going to charity and contributions whizzing in from every corner of the globe. The result is the thoughts of 54 different writers, most of them HR professionals and one of them former Lib Dem eccentric Lembit Öpik (who talks about Star Trek, of all things). Humane, Resourced is impassioned, challenging and consistently practical. If the aim was to show enthusiastic amateurs can be (almost) as incisive as hard-nosed HR journalists, it certainly hits the mark.
The big idea
If there is a unifying theme at work here, it’s the idea of HR exploring its possibilities, allowing its imagination and intellect to wander free from prying eyes. Humane, Resourced is at its best when contributors are narrowly focused and factual rather than simply opinionated. Witness reward specialist Ian Davidson’s fascinating exposition on probability in business, and how it leads him to carry a gas mask around London. Elsewhere, Richard Westney imagines a world where HR data gets the consensual “WikiLeaks” treatment, with employee information the currency of empowerment rather than a state secret, and Amanda Sterling draws parallels between HR and lean manufacturing. By far the lengthiest contribution, by Bob Philpin, is a detailed and passionate argument for big data to revolutionise how we choose and develop leaders.
Does it work?
Humane, Resourced’s electronic pages could easily have been an insular mess of the kind seen across much of the blogosphere. That it is so cohesive is a tribute to D’Souza’s judgment and the flexibility of the format, which allows the 280-odd pages to feel bite-sized and in-depth at the same time. The diversity on show (subjects take in Johan Cruyff and punk rock as well as disability in the workplace) and the range of writing styles are a delight, and despite rough edges, this exercise in crowdsourcing is far more than merely an experiment.