HR’s Triple Bottom Line, Philosophical Issues

HR’s Triple Bottom Line:
Philosophical Issues
By
Peter Anyebe
Truth
This work is about performance. And it is based on a conception of performance that centers on
knowledge. However it does not attempt to summarize the achievements of humanity in the area
of knowledge, to date. Rather it builds on the fundamental achievements, to present a position
that this writer subscribes to as truth. The concept of truth that is adopted here would therefore
be absolute. Thus the writer recognizes that the variations of truth could be a myriad, as there are
meanings to life and existence in the universe. But in the labyrinthine complexity, it would be
possible to derive one, 1 path that fits the maze. And this path would then define the absolute
truth. Recall the following two, 2 dictums:
To the one who’s meaning of life you accept, you are enslaved
You are controlled by the procedures that you adopt
If it were possible to find the absolute truth therefore, which would also hold the meaning of life
and existence; this would be safer for all of humanity. It would guide against unfair
manipulations by crazy individuals who take advantage of seemingly superior intellect, to
manipulate lesser mortals. Recall also that for predictability, all that is required would be the
internalization of meaning. This means that given a certain meaning of life and existence, which
would actually be a certain variation of truth, it may be possible to make a case from scientific
predictions and replicability. It would however be limited in scope, to the particular
circumstances and group that has subscribed to the truce. For the absolute truth however, this
limitation would not be there. The findings would be generalizable, as in one size fits all.
Compare Einstein’s energy equation, e = mc2
with Newton’s laws of motion and gravity for
instance. The energy equation holds true for all phenomena. Given the appropriate procedure
therefore, mass, m would be reduced into its energy, e equivalent for all phenomena. But
Newtonian gravity and motion have been observed to fail at the sub-atomic level of existence.
Recall the following quote from Freeman Dyson in 1980:
Thirty-one years ago Dick Feynman told me about his 'sum over histories'
version of quantum mechanics. "The electron does anything it likes," he said.
"It just goes in any direction, at any speed, forward and backward in time,
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however it likes, and then you add up the amplitudes and it gives you the
wave function." I said to him "You're crazy." But he isn't
Recall also the following quotes from Stephen Hawkins’s, a brief history of time:
When we combine quantum mechanics with general relativity, there
seems to be a new possibility that did not arise before: that space and time
together might form a finite, four-dimensional space without singularities
or boundaries, like the surface of the earth but with more dimensions
When one combines general relativity with the uncertainty principle of
quantum mechanics, it is possible for both space and time to be finite
without any edges or boundaries
When we apply Feynman’s sum over histories to Einstein’s view of
gravity, the analogue of the history of a particle is now a complete curved
space-time that represents the history of the whole universe
Einstein suggested a new meaning for gravity that has a wider application than Newton’s, in
which rather than be a force like Newton suggested, gravity explains the curved character of the
universe. This is how Hawkins presents the argument:
Einstein made the revolutionary suggestion that gravity is not a force like other
forces, but is a consequence of the fact that space-time is not flat, as had been
previously assumed: it is curved, or “warped,” by the distribution of mass and
energy in it.
The mass of the sun curves space-time in such a way that although the earth
follows a straight path in four-dimensional space-time, it appears to us to move
along a circular orbit in three-dimensional space.
Bodies like the earth are not made to move on curved orbits by a force called
gravity; instead, they follow the nearest thing to a straight path in a curved space,
which is called a geodesic. A geodesic is the shortest (or longest) path between
two nearby points. For example, the surface of the earth is a two-dimensional
curved space. A geodesic on the earth is called a great circle, and is the shortest
route between two points. As the geodesic is the shortest path between any two
airports, this is the route an airline navigator will tell the pilot to fly along. In
general relativity, bodies always follow straight lines in four-dimensional space-
time, but they nevertheless appear to us to move along curved paths in our three-
dimensional space. (This is rather like watching an airplane flying over hilly
ground. Although it follows a straight line in three-dimensional space, its shadow
follows a curved path on the two-dimensional ground.)

Feynman’s reference to motion at the sub-atomic level also differs from Newton’s. While
Newtonian motion is determinate, Feynman’s is random and seemingly unpredictable, until the
wave function is applied to it. It took a combination of Einstein and Feynman, to describe the
universe as self-contained. Self-containment re-characterizes the universe as determinate,
following the indeterminacy character imposed by quantum physics and summarized in
Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle. Recall again the following quote from Hawkins:
The uncertainty principle of quantum mechanics implies that certain pairs of
quantities, such as the position and velocity of a particle, cannot both be
predicted with complete accuracy
The unpredictable, random element comes in only when we try to interpret the
wave in terms of the positions and velocities of particles. But maybe that is our
mistake: maybe there are no particle positions and velocities, but only waves
Newtonian motion and gravity, as well as Einstein’s and Feynman’s gravity and motion are all
truths. But while Newton holds only at the macro level, Einstein and Feynman hold at both the
macro and micro levels of existence. The latter is more universal than the former. It is absolute.
Historically, the modern scientific age began in the sixteenth century, 16th
C when Nicholas
Copernicus suggested that the motion of the stars and the planets in the sky could be described
on the assumption that it is the sun rather than the earth that is the center of the solar system.
This idea was developed by Kepler and Galileo and notably in the late 17th
C by Isaac Newton in
the laws of motion and gravity. This objective mathematical approach to natural phenomena was
continued in a number of scientific fields and culminated in the work of James Clark Maxwell in
the 19th
C who reduced electromagnetism into the four, 4 Maxwell equations. By the end of the
19th
C therefore it seemed that the basic fundamental principles governing the behavior of the
physical universe were known. Everything appeared to be subject to Newton’s mechanics and
Maxwell’s electromagnetism. And in the following words of the 19th
C French scientist and
philosopher Pierre Simon de Laplace:
We may regard the present state of the universe as the effect of its
past and the cause of its future
Then within thirty, 30 years a major revolution occurred that completely destroyed the basis for
this thinking. Quantum theory introduced the uncertainty principle with the observation that:
Nothing can be measured or observed without disturbing it
It is this observation that Einstein and Feynman have debunked. This may hold at the limited
level of truth. But at the absolute level where the essence of being is encountered, measurements
would be real. Indeterminacy may hold for the relative, at the absolute however, phenomena
regain determinacy. Truth is, gravity and relativity have characterized the universe as curved

space-time, which perturbs the human perception of phenomena to distort the perspective. But
another truth is, Feynman’s sum over histories presents a solution, in which the optimum
perspective is defined as absolute. By this solution, all the possible paths that an object could
have taken are summed up; and because the waves’ amplitudes cancel out, only one, 1 path
emerges as the route that the object could take. Once more, recall this quote from Hawkins:
gravity, the analogue of the history of a particle is now a complete curved
space-time that represents the history of the whole universe
Feynman’s sum over histories suggests the possibility of a unit perspective of phenomena that
is absolute, and is representative of all possible perspectives. It suggests the possibility to derive
the natural order, N-O against which the personal order, P-O that represents all other
possibilities could be evaluated. Recall Immanuel Kant’s distinction between noumena and
phenomena, which represent the N-O and P-O respectively. Although he posited in the 17th
C
that it would be impossible to derive the N-O, this derivation is the primary focus of this work;
as well as its implications for performance, and therefore to put labor on the shelf and resolve
HR’s triple bottom line to put the right workforce in the right environment delivering profitable
business growth.
Self-Containment
The research on which this work is based lasted twenty-eight, 28 years from January of 1988 to
June of 2016. This is about the time Hawking’s A brief history of time was first published,
specifically on April Fools’ Day, 1988. For the first, 1st
time, physics practically came to the
conclusion that the universe could be self-contained. Once more there was hope that the
determinacy clause, which was introduced by Newton and almost extinguished by quantum
physics, could be restored. Following quantum physics, the notion of absolutes was jettisoned.
And truth failed, to become restricted as a conception of the human mind. Because of the
measurement problem following which nothing could exist unless it was measured, knowledge
suffered a setback, opening a pathway for all-comers. The greatest of these knocks was suffered
by intuition, which by virtue of its character cannot be measured. This may have caused Einstein
to make the following observation:
The intuitive mind is a sacred gift,
And the rational mind is a faithful servant.
We have created a society that honors the servant,
And has forgotten the gift
At the level of the absolute however, intuition could be reduced into rationality, and then to be
measured for value. It is this reduction that concerns this book. So that the one who intuits,

would also be able to present their thoughts in a rational format that is measureable. For
distinction, while intuition, Pc would be required to make wealth, ROIApp it is rationality, Rn
that defines the capacity for value creation, PoF. This means that it would be possible to create
all the value, but not convert it into wealth. This would require a form of levitation by
leveraging, from rationality to intuition. And the converse would also be true that the person
who makes the wealth may not know the full value of what they have created, which would
require a reduction from intuition to rationality. Whether it is a reduction or levitation the task
lies with, to link thought, f0 and behavior, Po in a performance model, f0 = 2Po - 1 that focuses
on the procedure as the link in the continuum between thought and behavior. Recall the
following two, 2 dictums once more:
To the one who’s meaning of life you accept, you are enslaved
You are controlled by the procedures that you adopt
Thus procedures would be analogues of meaning, and therefore truth. Then the typical
procedure would be an expression of a truth that summarizes the meaning of life and existence.
This demands that to be acceptable, the procedure for the performance at task should
approximate the processes that underlie the universe. For fulfillment, this condition requires that
the principles that hold the universe together are derived. When physics described the universe as
self-contained therefore, it pointed to these principles. Recall this quote from Hawking again:
gravity, the analogue of the history of a particle is now a complete
curved space-time that represents the history of the whole universe
The analogue that is referenced here would actually describe a path or procedure, which when
adopted, would be certain to produce the desired results. Moreover it would at once present the
absolute truth, within which the meaning of life in the universe would be summarized. While
procedures, Fn
answer to the ’how’ question, characteristics, F2
answer to the ’what’ question.
For the meaning that is so derived to be acceptable therefore, character and procedure would
need to coincide, for F2
= Fn
where n = 2. Recall that the square of numbers is actually an
application of the absolute. In this case the factor-n would be a measure of creativity, n that
would be optimum at a duality.
The possibility to approximate these requirements rests in the characteristics, F2
of a universe
that has been described as self-contained, Fn
. Thus the firmament or earth’s atmosphere has been
observed to include a substance that has been referred to as the fine structure constant, α. It is
this substance that has made it possible for intelligent life to exist on the earth, which intelligence
was demonstrated at its optimum when the dual nature of light became fact. From then on it was
only a matter of time, and the universe was described as self-contained. This opened up the
avenue for humans to understand themselves as also self-contained, thereby sharing certain
fundamental characteristics with the universe. As evidence of self-containment, the institutions

that humans establish would also be self-contained, at optimum. Duality would run through the
universe, to humans, and to their institutions. Like light, the mind, as well as the principles by
which these function, would have dual natures. The common feature that binds the three, 3 is that
they all link the material and the immaterial world. So when Plato described nature as dual,
comprising the world of form and the world of objects, the reference actually connected the
universe, humans, and the society. Like particle and quantum physics therefore, to understand
humanity and society optimally, the shift would need to be made from the material to the
immaterial phenomena that characterize both. And it would be at this point that character would
coincide with procedure.
In practice therefore to understand humans in depth, psychology would need to shift from the
current focus on behaviorism to phenomenology, which concerns the thought process. And the
principles that would be invoked would need to shift from the lower, to the higher forms. For
instance, gravity and prudence represent lower and higher principles respectively; so that while
gravity is concerned with matter, prudence is clearly immaterial. The distinction between both
becomes obvious when a person is walking on slippery ground, for instance. Both principles
would be in operation at once, at the higher level of intangibility, but with gravity held constant
at a unity and rendered ineffective. But when prudence is lost, then gravity becomes active again,
as the higher gives way to the lower principle. This would be when the person would fall to the
ground.
When humans adopt Feynman’s sum over histories principle of quantum physics in the thought
process, the path or procedure that is derived would be subject to the continuity and
conservation laws, which are central to science and its methods. Moreover the application of
these procedures at behavior, would also subject it to both laws. This would be evident in the
shape factor that describes both the thought pattern and the behavior pattern. At optimum
thought and behavior, the shape of the curve would be normal. For growth it would be left-
skewed, and it would be right-skewed for decay. Recall that it is the shape factor, which links
the earth and the universe, to describe both as self-contained. The same shape factor links
humans and their institutions, to describe them also as self-contained.
Intellect
1% of humanity has been commonly observed to make 99% of the wealth. And 20% create 80%
of the value. This had to be so, until certain things happened:
First, 1st
De Broglie needed to make the jump that recognized all phenomena as waves.
Then the intellect needed to be clearly attributed to the environment in a second. 2nd
jump.
Following Immanuel Kant, these jumps have a history:

First, 1st
the industrial revolution exposed the human propensity to create waste.
Then the information revolution identified the solution to the problem of waste as the
process.
And third, 3rd
the knowledge revolution that has now gathered momentum has derived
the standard procedure for the performance at task, to resolve the process.
Recall that he fine structure constant, α is a substance that is contained in the earth’s
atmosphere or firmament. And it is known to be responsible for the existence of intelligent life
on the planet, without which it would be impossible for humans to acquire knowledge of the
universe as well as themselves and their society. Thus the capacity of the human intellect was
demonstrated at its optimum, when light was described to have dual characteristics by the waves-
particle duality model of quantum physics. It was only a matter of time, and this led to
Feynman’s sum over histories and then de Broglie.
Stephen Hawking
concluded this
development with
the classic
declaration of the
universe as self-
contained. The
declaration was
classic because
soon, humans
would also be
described as self-contained. And like the earth and the universe, humans and their institutions
would be conceptualized as analogues. In this case however, while the analogous link between
earth and universe is physical; the link between humans and the institutions would be immaterial,
where the shape factor would be derived from the data. At the optimum when humans are self-
contained, the historical data that is derived from that population would be normal. So also
would the shape of the data that
describes institutions that are
self-contained, which would be
an indication that performance
is at its optimum. As expressed
on the three, 3 laws of
performance, normality
represents optimum
performance, and left-skew and
right-skew describe
growth and decay, respectively.

While the firmament or earth’s atmosphere describes the environment around the earth, light
describes the environment around the universe. The environment around humans is the
culture. And the environment around the organization would be the business environment.
Then as the fine structure constant, α contained in the firmament endowed humans with the
capacity to demystify light, so also would the culture, which in this case would be the
organizational culture, OrgC enable humans to break the jinx around the business environment,
EB. In this regard it has been observed that as the score on OrgC tends towards a unity for
OrgC= 1, the score on the business environment would tend toward a quadruple, for EB = 4. To
corroborate this observation, the workforce with which these scores are associated would also be
described as productive, for RES = RGT as Nu → 4 and Ps → 20%. Thus the responses, RES to
stimuli would be appropriate, RGT for RES = RGT only when the person is able to derive the four,
4 strategic objectives, Nu for Nu = 4; which capacity would position, Ps them as 20%ters on the
Pareto continuum. Recall the Alfred Pareto principle that 80% of the work in most organizations
is done by 20% of the personnel. Then the 20%ters would make up the productive team of
leaders in the organization. And the others, 80%ters who make up the followership would need
to play catch-up, for any observed growth in the organization, if there is not to be decay.
It takes the leadership to determine the enabling environment, by institutionalizing what has
been described here as the work culture. In this case they would be expected to derive the
organizational kit, Org-K also known as the knowledge bank, which would be a systematic
reduction of the six, 6 essential jobs that are performed in the organization into duties, activities,
and tasks. The procedure for the performance at each of the tasks is then standardized, to derive
the knowledge bank as a pool from which data is drawn for appraisal, ROIApp skill gap, SkG
engagement, EnG retention, RtN and employability, EmP as the case may be. The work culture
is founded on the principle that whatever gets measured gets done, which principle derives from
the following two, 2:
The only things that can be known for sure are those that can be measured
When people know what to do and how to do it, they hunger to be in the center
of the action
The standard procedure series, SPS at once describes phenomena, F2
to define what is to be
done; as well as procedurizes phenomena, Fn
to outline how the task is to be performed. It
therefore possesses the potential to motivate performance at the optimum, as indicated on the
second, 2nd
principle outlined above. Moreover when procedures are standardized, it is actually a
reduction of the phenomenon being procedurized into the essential features that give it being.
This is the first, 1st
of two, 2 steps that describe the measurement process as follows:
Identify the essential features of the phenomenon, to describe it
Map these into the number line, according to the relationships that define the
characteristics of the phenomenon to procedurize it

Done correctly, the standard procedure also fulfills the first, 1st
principle outlined above. It gives
the assurance that the process would culminate as expected, and according to specifications.
Recall the standards established by Six Sigma, 6∑. Thus given the appropriate process, waste
would be minimized to a point where there would be only two, 2 defective products in a batch
that contains a million. But this reference was restricted to engineering. The knowledge bank
expands the scope, to include all of the other industries. When the intellect is described as
environmental, performance is reduced into the following series:
By this series, the purpose of performance would be to create an environment that is optimum,
for the development of the intellect. Then the home would be the place to start from, where
upbringing prepares people for the workforce. And the organizational culture would be
designed to collaborate with the home in this preparation, serving to make up for the deficiencies
and lapses that may be observed in the workforce. Success by this duo would be evident in the
quality of the business environment as well as the society, and the universe at large. Recall that
an important characteristic of such an environment would be the recognition of the duality
nature that connects the following three, 3 phenomena:
Light
Mind
Principles
While light is at once a wave and a particle, the mind is both immaterial and material, and there
would be higher and lower principles, respectively. Like the waves therefore, the higher
principles would be concerned with the immaterial, rather than the material aspects of
phenomena; which appearances would then be the focus of the lower principles, like quantum
and particle physics respectively. The model of performance presented in this work is
phenomenological, being concerned with the thought process. As against the current models
in the literature that are mostly behavioral. Moreover when procedures are standardized,
measurements would be objective rather than subjective, in which the subject’s opinion is
sought. It is when opinions are sought that the measurement process interferes with the results, as
observed by quantum physics in the quote represented below:
Nothing can be measured or observed without disturbing it
3. Business Environment Performance
2. Organizational Culture 6. Environment
1. The Home 5. The Universe
4. The Society

HR’s Triple Bottom Line, Philosophical Issues

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