Nikola Tesla on Human Energy

Tesla saw human energy as a form of movement governed by the same physical laws that govern the rest of the universe.

by Nikola Tesla

Nikola Tesla was undoubtedly one of the greatest game changing geniuses of the past century. What is not generally known beyond his work on electricity and alternating current is his thinking on human energy, the very fuel which drives all organisations, societies and nations.

Tesla saw human energy as a form of movement governed by the same physical laws that govern the rest of the universe. He developed a formula for this where he likened human energy to kinetic energy.

KE = 1/2m x v2 where KE = Kinetic Energy, m = mass of humanity, and v = velocity.

Tesla's key to maximising the kinetic velocity of humans is twofold. Reduce the forces that limit velocity to as close to zero as possible by reducing the "frictional forces such as ignorance, stupidity and imbecility and warfare", and increasing the impelling forces that generate velocity and can be increased indefinitely. Tesla advocated good health and close attention to diet and lifestyle in this regard.

Tesla's recommendation therefore was for humanity to amplify the positive forces that generate kinetic velocity and attenuate the negative forces.

This is where the fun starts. We live in a universe driven by energy. It is the fuel that has generated everything since the big bang. Including all human activity, its entire history, and every moment, every success and every failure, of every organisation that has ever existed.

Without a shadow of doubt human energy is by far the most valuable asset in any organisation. It determines its full evolutionary capability to innovate, survive, compete and grow. Nothing else. And I repeat, nothing else, competes with the game changing power of human energy. And it's never on the balance sheet. Which explains why most organisations fail in the first ten years.

THE ART AND SCIENCE OF GENERATING HUMAN ENERGY IN ORGANISATIONS

The current Covid 19 crisis is changing the business landscape, simultaneously changing the risk profile faced by every manager. In the past century the challenge to increase energy and change the game has never been greater.

This is how we have built on Tesla's concept of kinetic velocity.

We assume that each organisation is a dynamic and complex system whose boundary is largely invisible and unknowable - largely imaginary. It is driven by two key components. Human Energy and Organisational DNA.

We define human energy as the capacity to do work in two categories. Potential energy and kinetic energy. Potential energy is the maximum skill, intelligence, experience and teamwork available in the system to do work. Kinetic energy is the conversion of the potential energy into practical action. The closer the conversion of potential to kinetic energy is to one, the greater the available energy to the organisation.

Organisational Energy (or Tesla's Kinetic Velocity) we define simply as a function of intelligent thinking and intelligent action.

Org Energy = (f) intelligent thinking x intelligent action

or OE = IT x IA.

MEASURING ORGANISATIONAL ENERGY

Although energy is ubiquitous throughout the universe it remains the Scarlet Pimpernel. We know it's there, we experience it every living moment but it remains elusive, much like gravity. We know gravity is the universal energy that holds heavenly bodies in place but we cannot find nor identify its particles. But we can measure the effect of gravity on an apple falling from a tree. And that is the way we measure human energy in organisations. We assess the inputs of the system - leadership, the innovation and teamwork, and the outputs such as customer satisfaction and profitability. Thus we measure both the potential energy and the kinetic energy of the system.

This assessment gives us a percentage on our energy scale. After many thousands of assessments we can predict the potential performance of an organisation almost to the nearest percentage point. We know for example that if we increase leadership energy by say 10% we know we will get a similar increase in organisational energy and organisational performance.

This experience over twenty-five years leads us to an important paradox. Conventional wisdom says that strategy drives performance. Our view is different. Experience has shown us that Organisational Energy is the primary driver of organisational performance, and not strategy.

Strategy in practice is the product of Organisational Energy. No organisation can perform or compete at a level beyond its energy level. If a strategy requires more energy than that available in the system, it cannot be implemented.

THE KEY ROLE OF ORGANISATIONAL DNA

The second area of complexity facing Tesla's concept of human energy is the invisible 'glue' that holds the system together, the 'genetic code' that separates one organisation from another. We like to talk of organisational culture as if it is somehow 'real' or 'concrete' but of course it is not. It is just the figment of each person's imagination based on a combination of experience and emotions, where the world outside is linked to our amygdala. And every person will experience an organisation's culture in a unique way, where that experience can never be shared - much like wine tasting.

We have used Watson and Crick's double helix as a metaphor or picture for understanding the invisible nature of an organisation's DNA. The one strand of the helix is made up of the conscious rules in the system - working hours, tasks, production processes etc - and the other strand is made up of the powerful but invisible and unconscious meta-rules, both of which combine in space and time.

The meta-rules are least understood but most relevant, and perhaps the single most important reason why virtually every change management process fails spectacularly. Incredibly around the world, HR departments are tasked with 'changing the culture' without either the science or the tools to undertake such a task, learning little or nothing from continuous failures.

The most prevalent example of a meta-rule we have found repeatedly in low to average energy organisations (generally banks, insurance companies, large retail organisations, government departments), is the "Don't change!" meta-rule. Leaders know their organisations need to innovate and evolve to remain competitive, so they send out the conscious instruction to 'innovate' but as usual nothing happens due to the invisible power of the "Don't change!" meta-rule.

At a practical level our first step on a project is to identify these core meta-rules and where they are destructive, we design to excise them and replace them with new positive high energy meta rules. This ties in neatly with Tesla's concept of kinetic velocity. The "Don't change!" meta rule is the velocity constraint. Removing it from the DNA has the potential to amplify or accelerate the organisation's kinetic velocity.

Our process therefore is more about 'genetic re-engineering', removing certain 'genes' and splicing new 'genes' onto the system.

Note. These new 'genes' are always new behaviours or actions that with repetition drive new evolutionary pathways.

SUMMARY

Nikola Tesla introduced his concept of human energy in terms of kinetic velocity. We see human energy as the foundation for all organisational performance, and that this energy is based on a uniquely evolved DNA, their combination generating Tesla's kinetic velocity which becomes the fuel to survive and grow.

Our projects are all based on the above principles and the following practical steps.

First assess the organisation's current energy level and unique DNA, including an understanding of the conscious rules and unconscious meta-rules.

Second, review the system strategy and assess the potential gaps between current energy and energy required to achieve the strategic objectives.

Third, we customise your programme to 're-engineer' your system energy and DNA.

Lastly, we implement, assess the impact, and ensure that the new DNA and energy level is maintained.

If you take a more practical and scientific approach to generating a successful high energy and game changing DNA you are more likely to survive the challenges of the current pandemic.

Alternatively you can believe in unicorns and dream of the return of the 'old normal'!