Stop Talking About Resources

Once of the nastier terms in current management jargon is the word resources. It means people, in the sense of workers, employees, or staff. If a manager is talking to his director about the project being late because he doesn't have enough workers to do everything that needs doing, he might complain about not having enough resources to do the job.

This usage has two problems. First, resources is a very broad word. It could refer to time, equipment, raw materials, expertise, or labour. The reader or listener has to infer which of these is the actual problem. Second, resources is often used in the sense of natural resources, such as forests, minerals, fresh water, and hydroelectric potential. All of these are inanimate -- they are things -- which means that talking about people as resources is talking about them as though they were just plain stuff, like dirt on the ground. This is the very essence of dehumanization, which is a very bad thing indeed.

So, what to do? Avoid the word resources when talking about people. Say what you really need. Do you need more engineers? Librarians? Bricklayers? Be as specific as possible. If you absolutely must be more general than that, say you need people. And if you are so high up that it all fades into a general get-things-done-ness, say you need money.