What on earth is the “Reflecting Vixen” about? It’s about payback!

Organizations (and people in them) like to assess everything using “efficiency”. Workers’ efficiency, energy’s efficiency, wages’ efficiency, time’s efficiency, policies’ efficiency, and so on. The word itself is now a go-to answer for managers and self-called leaders to solve all types of problems.

I often ask them (as I always ask finance controllers working with me): what do they mean by efficiency? Answers are always surprising, some even unable to say anything, despite using the concept to manage their teams on daily basis. To be fair, researchers are not that clear either. Some scholars have been debating about efficiency’s benefits, without a clear definition, pages after pages (some articles from Study Mode here).

In the business world, the concept is now becoming nothing more than a stick, to balance hypothetical carrot.

But Effy is done defining herself (see previous episode). She is an endless concept, changing form depending on the challenges we face. That being said, she should never be used as an excuse. Not for arbitrary evaluation, or decision, otherwise beware the reflecting vixen!

As we pursue efficiency, never forget the peculiar nature of this concept: attractive & promising, yet cunning, demanding and forever unreachable.

Constructive comments welcome!

G.M.