Why has the most important capital become invisible?
We often say that people are our most important asset. Yet many of our most important decisions are about everything else. How did we get there?
When I look back on almost 50 years in working life, there is one thing that continues to fascinate me.
We talk about technology more than ever.
We are talking more about artificial intelligence.
More about automation.
More about efficiency.
More about systems, data and analysis.
Still, it's not the technology I remember best.
I remember the people.
Throughout my working life, I have been fortunate. I have experienced everything from telephone sales and customer service to the infancy of the internet, digitalization, the cultural sector and public administration.
I have worked in large commercial companies and in the public sector.
I've seen technologies come and go.
Systems are introduced and replaced.
Projects start and end.
But one thing has remained the same throughout the years:
It is the people who decide whether something is successful.
Not the technology alone.
Not the organizational chart.
Not the strategy documents.
The people.
I remember something in particular that struck me early in my working life.
When something worked exceptionally well, it was almost always due to people collaborating well.
People who shared knowledge.
People who took responsibility.
People who cared about their colleagues.
When something didn't work well, it was rarely because the technology was too bad.
More often it was about a lack of cooperation, a lack of understanding or a lack of trust.
That experience has followed me throughout my professional life.
Over the years, I have been fortunate to work in both the private and public sectors.
I have been involved in building digital services, developing websites, working with customer loyalty, marketing and digitalization.
I have experienced the infancy of the internet, the rise of e-commerce, the breakthrough of the mobile phone, and now artificial intelligence.
A lot has changed.
But one observation has become stronger with each passing year:
When people succeed together, value is created that no technology can create alone.
We say that people are most important
It's actually a bit strange.
Because we often say that people are our most important resource.
That sounds great.
But if we really mean it, why do we spend so much time talking about everything else?
We are talking about investments.
We're talking about buildings.
We're talking about technology.
We're talking about budgets.
We are talking about capital.
We are talking about investments.
We are talking about returns.
And we do it for good reason.
But far too rarely do we talk about the capital that exists in people.
All of this is important.
But none of these things create value on their own.
A plane doesn't take off because someone bought the plane.
A hospital doesn't function because the building is there.
An online store doesn't succeed because someone installed a server.
Behind all this are people.
Pilots.
Nurses.
Developers.
Mechanics.
Teachers.
Store employees.
Customer service representatives.
Leaders.
Professionals.
People who do their job every single day.
The invisible capital – the capital that is not in the accounts
Maybe that's why I eventually started using the expression Invisible Capital.
Not because it is invisible in the true sense of the word.
But because we so easily take it for granted.
We see the accounts.
We see the buildings.
We see the technology.
But we don't always see the experience.
We don't always see the knowledge.
We don't always see the relationships.
We don't always see the trust.
The more technology we get, the more important people become.
When I started working in the 1970s, the world was completely different.
Since then, I have experienced a technological revolution.
However, I have come up with something quite simple:
The more technology we get, the more important people become.
No less.
More.
Because technology can make us faster.
It can make us more efficient.
It can help us solve problems.
But it cannot replace experience.
It cannot replace judgment.
It cannot replace trust.
It cannot replace human cooperation.
Why this blog exists
Now that I have entered retirement after a long working life, I feel a strong sense of gratitude.
Not primarily for the systems I have worked with.
Not for the projects.
Not for the technology.
But for the people I've met along the way.
They are the ones who have taught me the most.
They are the ones who have created the results.
They are the ones who have made working life meaningful.
And that is precisely why this blog exists.
To highlight the capital that is rarely included in the accounts.
The one that exists in experience.
In knowledge.
In collaboration.
In the trust between people.
The capital that every day contributes to creating value in business, the public sector and our society.
The one I have chosen to call The Invisible Capital.
Read more about value-creating people
Value creation happens every day and throughout society . In this series, we take a closer look at some of the people, workplaces, and societal functions that create value for us all.
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The invisible capital in Norwegian working life We often talk about technology, strategy, results and efficiency. Far less often about the people who make working life and value creation work – every single day.
When ideas stop with the leaders . Why good ideas are rarely lacking – and what it takes for them to actually be realized.
Norway has never had more knowledge and value creation – how do we create more? Statistics Norway's figures show that Norwegians have never had a higher level of education. Yet it is not the number of credits that determines whether we succeed as a society. What is crucial is how we convert knowledge into innovation, jobs and value creation.
Why digitalization is really about people - We often talk about digitalization as if it is primarily about technology. About systems, platforms, artificial intelligence, automation and new digital services. Many of the biggest headlines are about investments, results and technological breakthroughs.
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