Treat Employees like Adults

People aren’t getting dumber, but they’re often treated that way. Politicians, educators, and the media assume the public is uncomfortable with nuance and grateful for prescribed solutions. Business, too, is being progressively dumbed down, not only by book authors who teach management by parable but also by managers themselves. Ironically, the infantilization of work is happening at the same time experts tout employee skills and knowledge as a prime source of corporations’ intellectual capital.