People want to explore new things, experiment with themselves, and learn new things.
Companies want to exploit, as they have a commercial obligation to fulfill, and they have the accountability of ROI.
True happiness lies somewhere in the middle, in the balance between the two. In a profession where people’s intellect and knowledge is the raw material, it is critical to be as close to happiness as possible.
Hence, if you are a leader in the knowledge industry – whether the team is in-house or outsourced; it is critical to managing this balance.
• Have clear objectives and goals, and the path to these goals
• Identify how personal experience and capability will be exploited to meet the goals
• Have a plan for exploration for individuals and see how that can be aligned to the company’s mission (if possible). In larger corporations, this is generally “experiment time” and “incubation programs”
• Encourage and mentor people to strike the balance
• Mentor and coach people to manage their time well across exploitation and exploration
Ultimately, many of the explorations will add a lot of value to the company. It all depends upon the leadership that there is a continuous growth of individuals and the company.