Discipline is not the Enemy of Enthusiasm (D ≠ E²)

The question of how best to ’empower’ employees is one that has received a good deal of attention for several decades now. Whether one talks of liberating the capability of employees to fully contribute or employee engagement the question remains; how best is this achieved? There have been at various times schools of thought that have suggested that the removal of order and structure; self-managed teams; semi-autonomous workgroups is the way to go. Our view is that good first steps are to be disciplined when it comes to ensuring that each and every employee has a meaningful answer to the following three questions about their work:

• What’s my work?
• How am I going and
• What’s my future?

And so discipline with respect to task assignment & role definition; discipline with respect to performance conversations and discipline with respect to talent management are all a prerequisite for engaging fully the capability of each and every employee to contribute to their full potential.