HR Directors, Random Thoughts and Radioactive Atoms

Random thoughts pop into my head from time to time. The trick with random thoughts is capturing them.

Why? Because random thoughts offer you nuggets of wisdom, clarity or even hilarity - if you can capture them.  Capturing random thoughts is easier said than done since they can disappear in a literal blink of the eye.

Ever notice though how every now and then, one just seems to stick around, popping in, popping out, forcing you to pay attention to it?

About a month or so ago, I had a random thought that I just can't shake. There I was walking purposefully down the hall to my office when out of the blue, I started thinking about "half-life." You know as well as I (thank you Wikipedia!) that half-life often describes the decay of discrete entities, such as radioactive atoms.   

Half-life is an interesting word and an interesting concept. What's even more interesting is that this word randomly appeared in my head at the end of a particularly challenging week. Interesting, huh? Yup, interesting enough to get me thinking.

So, what is the half-life of a Director of HR anyway? 

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Comments

[tlcolson]

Optimally, I'd say the # of employees in the company/#of direct support staff available * # of people in the food chain between you and the CEO / the square root of the % of your last bonus.

Or something like that.

~T

[Mark Stelzner]

I *love* random thoughts and agree that if you could truly catalog them, perhaps they wouldn't appear so random after all. Re: HR director "half-life", I suspect you split every time you get yelled at by a disgruntled employee, dismissed by the business, etc. :)

[David W]

Half-life of HR Directors is certainly a valid concept to develop. I suspect it is linked to:

1. The industry and average speed of strategic drift in that industry

2. The time-span of discretion - I suspect Half-Life = Time Span / 2

Regards, David

[RMSmithJr.SPHR]

That depends on the decay rate and cycle. The HR cycle is one year.

What factors influence the decay rate? Group insurance renewal. Legislative activism. Compliance creep. 'Wouldn't it be nice' thinking - especially when it targets what someone, anyone and everyone else thinks you should be doing. Ten-hour days. Stagnation cleverly disguised as seniority. Fear. Too many hats to wear and only one head.

[Coaching Mark]

I like to keep both paper and electronic means of capturing random thoughts with me at all times!

All the best from Brighton,
Mark

[George A Guajardo]

i don't know what the half-life of an HR director is, but there is a cautionary tale for us all in this line of questioning. half-life suggests decay, but it also suggests near-perpetual life. While half its toxicity is gone,the remaining half of the mineral is still toxic. In practical terms, the mineral will never be safe to the touch.

Thinking about HR directors, or any other leaders for that matters, I see the half-life as the time span after which they become 1/2 as effective in their position. They are still there. After another half life, they will only be 25% as effective as they were originally...but they are still there.

Ok, that was a bit pessimistic.

[Deirdre]

I have been thinking about this post for a few days. What if it isn't 'our' halflife? Couldn't it be what we are doing? I look at my work and how it has evolved over the years. 10 years ago, I wasn't even thinking about web, branding, twitter, message boards. So maybe we 'halflife' starts creeping into the vernacular, its about evaluating projects, output and the like not just the title. What can you shake up?

[Lisa Rosendahl]

Thanks to all for joining me in this fun (but real) inquiry!

Mark and Mark, yes, I'd agree that nothing is random and I am startin gto try out the voice recorder on my BB to hep capture the thoughts fleeting through my head. Did you notice that the "Marks" are the only two commenting about randomness?

Tammy, Mark S, David and Robert, you captured the jist of my thoughts walking down the hallway that day, "if it's not one thing it's another and this has to end sometime" I was focused on me and my own sustainablity :) and maybe, as Deirde states, it goes beyond the individual to the impact of what we do and how our roles are changing - we are in the midst of evolution. Maybe it is this evolution that will reverse, or greatly slow down the decay. New thoughts, new actions, new opportunities = energy.

George, what do you think reduces the effectiveness of leaders over time?

[Ted]

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