What’s the value of knowledge and experience

It’s a very “hot”  question at this time. The blessed days when people could be assessed on hom many pieces they produced a day is over. Now the “knowledge capital” is key, and what has to be assessed is not a controlled production but the ability to face uncertainty and offer solutions.

In brief, expertise, experience, knowlegde has value but when comes the time to quantify it in real money things become more complicated. As I wrote previously about intangible assets value and ROI of enteprise 2.0 about which I still believe it has to be measured according to the formal processes that are supported by E.20 tools. By the way that shows us, once again, that time is the less relevant parameter to quantify employee’s work today.

No long analysis today, only two short stories in order to really get this point and shine in company.

A machine in a factory has malfunctioned, and the engineers on site can’t find the source of the problem.

So they call on a retired worker who had spent a long time working with the machine. He comes in, walks up to the machine, looks at it for a minute, pulls out a piece of chalk and draws a circle around the screw that needs to be tightened.

He then writes them a bill for $5,000.

“$5,000, that’s ridiculous, all you did was draw a circle around a screw!”

So he writes them a new bill:
– Drawing a circle around a screw: $1.
– Knowing where to draw it: $4999.

(originally found here).

The second (found here) is about the richness of experience and the need for sharing it : a success obtained without visible effort today is nothing more than the result of years of work that are not visible at the moment.

“Legend has it that Pablo Picasso was sketching in the park when a bold woman approached him.

It’s you — Picasso, the great artist! Oh, you must sketch my portrait! I insist.”

So Picasso agreed to sketch her. After studying her for a moment, he used a single pencil stroke to create her portrait. He handed the women his work of art.

“It’s perfect!” she gushed. “You managed to capture my essence with one stroke, in one moment. Thank you! How much do I owe you?”

“Five thousand dollars,” the artist replied.

“B-b-but, what?” the woman sputtered. “How could you want so much money for this picture? It only took you a second to draw it!”

To which Picasso responded, “Madame, it took me my entire life.”