--- Miles Jackson <cqmv at pdx.edu> wrote:
> like Microsoft, it would be silly to expect one
> worker to excel in all
> these domains of activity;
[WS:] Excel? I think the rule is to "satisfice" as some org theorists call it, that is, to perform at at the acceptable minimum. I am no denying specialization of jobs within a bureaucracy, that would be silly. All I am saying that most such jobs require only general cognitive skill that anyone of average intelligence has, plus of course some specialized training, but nothing of a superstar performer. That supestar performance is simply corporate mythology to justify speedups when applied to ordinary grunts, or fabulous executive salaries when applied to the top echelons.
Stateed differently, any person who managed to go through college can do, with little training, most but a few highly specialized jobs in a subject area broadly related to his/her major - from nurse practitioners doing doctors' work, or paralegeals doing attorneys' jobs , to research assistants doing research scientists' jobs and not to mention administrative staff doing executive jobs. Of course, corporate mythology focuses on a few overpaid superstars, but those superstars simply stand on the shoulders of others who are largely invisible. I think what really makes a diffrence in performance is not that much technical experitse - provided of course that a certain minumum qualification level is met - but "people's skills" or social intelligence. As I already said, most tasks are the work of a collective rather than individual "geniuses."
Anoher thing, we need to distinguish actual skills from mere credentials. I'd say that in most cases organizations say that they looking for skills, but what really matters for them is credentials. Or perhaps 25% skills, and 75% credentials. However, credentials arre usually not related to skills - cetreris paribus, Ivy league graduates have no better skills than graduates of state universities - all they have is better credentials that people think translate into better skills.
Wojtek
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