about this siteThe goal of this site is introduce the concept of human capital sustainability and provide a forum for sharing pertinent ideas and perspectives. We will seed the discussion with postings in the Overview, Theory, Issues & Solutions, and Reviews areas. We invite you to send us your own thoughts and ideas using the links at the end of each article, essay, or review. We will post a representative sample of the emails that we receive on the Articles page. To learn more about the Human Capital Sustainability Institute, please contact us.
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welcome!Broadly defined, human capital sustainability involves anything that enhances people’s quality of life and their ability to contribute to the greater good. Traditionally, the notion of human capital has been applied to that which occurs outside of the workplace that impacts the skills, knowledge, well being, and attitude that people bring to the workplace. However, the concept of human capital sustainability includes any system, artifact, relationship, or institution in the greater environment that positively impacts people, regardless of their specific contribution to the workplace. Recently, many businesses have begun to expand their efforts to both promote and reap the benefits of a triple bottom line—profit, social responsibility, and environmental responsibility. Human capital sustainability overlaps and is mutually influenced by efforts to support environmental, social, and economic vitality. Spiritual, emotional, ethical, and political well-being are also important aspects of human capital sustainability. why use the word "capital” with respect to people?At first blush, the term "human capital" may sound insensitive or mechanistic. We have become accustomed to the term “human resource,” but that term is actually far more degrading to the human spirit. It suggests that people are a fungible resource in inexhaustible supply that can be spent, used up, and easily replaced. Resources are used. Capital, on the other hand, is protected, cherished, developed, and grown. We invest our capital. For example, our homes are typically part of our capital—something that we pay for with the income that we get from expending our resources. A home is something to be treated with care and protected and developed and improved upon, because it is a valuable asset. It is unwise to break off portions of one’s house in exchange for a dinner out or a nice vacation. A home isn’t something to be dismantled and used up and parceled out like income. Yet this is how natural capital (the environment) and human capital (people) have typically been treated—as inexhaustible, replaceable, interchangeable resources that can and should be used up as quickly as possible. In order to move humanity forward, this practice must change. One of the most powerful catalysts for change is language. The words “human capital sustainability” reinforce the need to see people differently as something to be cherished, appreciated, developed, nurtured, and protected—as having unique and intrinsic value and potential that can be realized to everyone’s benefit, but only under the right conditions. why are the “right” conditions so important?Decades ago, Philip Zimbardo demonstrated the powerful effect of environment on people’s behavior (see http://www.zimbardo.com). He created a faux prison and randomly assigned students to play either the role of guards or prisoners. After only a few days, the guards—many of them social activists for peace and love in their student persona—began demonstrating the behaviors we have recently come to associate with Abu Ghraib. His conclusion was that really good people can behave very badly if put in the wrong situation. But the converse can also be true, as demonstrated by the Truth and Reconciliation efforts in South Africa which began shortly after apartheid was abolished (see http://www.doj.gov.za/trc/). Our institutions, artifacts, relationships, and systems are indeed very powerful influences on our behavior. This does not negate the need for personal responsibility or the opportunity for personal choice. But it does emphasize the need for social responsibility as a much needed method for balancing human behavior. In this light, the “right” conditions for promoting human capital sustainability include changes in the external environment that induce positive changes in the internal environment (mind) as well as changes in the internal environment that induce positive changes in the external environment. (Autocatalysis and cross-catalysis are also important, but will be covered in more detail in a related feature.) why is human capital sustainability so important right now?There is a growing consensus that humanity is on the verge of a critical bifurcation with breathtaking consequences. A convergence of unsustainable trends in the environment, the economy, society, religion, and politics are culminating in a situation where things can either go very badly (if we choose to do nothing differently) or very well (if we choose to do things very differently), but things cannot remain the same. In other words, humanity is on the verge of either paradise or perdition, but remaining on its current course without drastic consequences is no longer available. Fortunately, a tipping point in the collective consciousness regarding natural capital sustainability has recently occurred. The need to protect our natural environment has been discussed in the public forum for decades and decades, but it has finally begun to gain real traction due to the imminent danger our environment faces and the harrowing consequences that we will endure if we do nothing about it. Therefore, this newly acquired perspective is being reflected in the media, the commons, and even in a previously belligerent government. Much action must follow all of the talk. But the awareness has been raised to a level of critical mass at the global level, if not entirely so in the United States. But this is merely the beginning. Following closely on the heels of a renewed concern for natural capital sustainability will be a general alarm over an unsustainable economy, both nationally and globally. Quickly following the anxiety regarding economic viability will be an equally disturbing awakening to the plight of human capital. Thus, the global epiphany regarding natural capital will be followed by similar wake-up calls that will draw our attention to the threats facing our economic and human capital. (Since the writing of this introduction, much has happened in financial markets to support a raised consciousness regarding economic sustainability. Articles will be provided on this site to further address this issue in a more up-to-date fashion.) how do we help to promote a new awareness of, and the right environment for, human capital sustainability?Discovering and realizing this is the purpose of this Web site. Our associates are now working to propose ideas, produce artifacts, and provide methods for personal, systemic, and institutional change. Hopefully, many more will join us in this effort. We realize that many others have preceded us in promoting very similar ideas and in working toward very similar goals. Based on this realization, we fully intend to link to as many other groups who are producing visible and positive results as we can in order to leverage our contribution and to promote the convergence of efforts necessary for effective change. We realize that our motivation is, in part, entirely selfish. There is no longer any place to hide from the consequences of the ensuing bifurcation. Everyone will be powerfully affected, either for better or for worse. But we also hear the call and feel the need to contribute to the greater good simply because it is good to do so. Our greater purpose cannot be, in our estimation, our mutual annihilation. Therefore, it must be promoting the best, most ethical, and highest manifestation of life possible. |
founderPaul L. Kordis, PhD advisorsJames H. Banning, PhD Gary Geroy, PhD Ed Goodman, P.E., MSCE Bruce Hall, PhD M.L. Johnson, EdD, PhD David T. Moran, PhD Beverly Title, PhD
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