“The death of one person is a tragedy. The death of millions is a statistic.” -Kurt Tucholsky (quoted by Joseph Stalin)

Dehumanization. It’s the denial of the humanity of others to justify behavior. It’s a big deal and a big problem. 

For decades, we have been chipping away at removing humans and their concerns from our everyday world, particularly in our work world. And it makes perfect sense from a business perspective. Face it, people are a pain. They complain, get injured, get sick, and have needs, wants, and dreams that just get in the way. They are high-cost obstacles that take away profit potential. If they go, it’s a problem solved.

This has been a driver of just about every age in history. It has allowed all manner of exploitation and manipulation in pursuit of wealth. You see, hurting and abusing people to get what you want becomes easier when you take away people’s humanity because removing their names and faces removes the ethical/moral barometer of conscience. Essentially, when people are out of sight, the damage done to them goes out of mind. It’s the root of the phrase, “It’s not personal, it’s just business.”

If we go back to the Agrarian Age, dehumanization reared its ugly head with slavery. Certain humans were dismissed as lesser beings and forced to labor for those who deemed themselves greater beings. However, even with all the domineering efforts being applied, slaves posed problems. They got sick, died, ran away, or revolted—usually an unsuccessful venture but disruptive nevertheless. Even though they did so much work, humans posed difficulties. 

When we moved on to the Industrial Age, things got marginally better… for the dehumanizers. In came machines and out went slavery, much of the manual labor, and many of those human problems. The create-wealth-without-need-of-people dream was taking formal shape. Fewer humans, fewer problems, lower cost, more profit.

Fast forward to today’s digital age, and we see a few more nails in humanity’s coffin. If Industrial Age machines were made to outwork us, Digital Age machines are being built to outthink us. It’s the dehumanization dream being more fully realized. We can now automate everything and relegate humans to data points that can be sold to the highest bidder. The profit-first, humans-a-distant-second promised land is in sight.

But there’s a great, ironic problem in all of this human-removal insanity: everything about business revolves around those very humans. It’s undeniable. Every customer is a human. Every investor is a human. Every leader, entrepreneur, supplier, and employee is a human. And when you consider that the fundamental reason for business is helping people accomplish things, turning it all into a cold, inhuman enterprise to be measured like a length of pipe just makes no sense. 

Think about it. Imagine being a patient in the hospital and learning you are terminally ill in a form letter. There may be no heart, soul, or compassion, but it’s efficient. It gets the job done, and there’s virtually no cost. However, do we really want human things like this handled in such a heartless, unfeeling way? Do we really want everyone reduced to numbers in some kind of Orwellian zero-sum game where humanity is summed up in a profit-and-loss statement?

Well, I’m putting in my no-vote. I’m casting my ballot for pressing the pause button on dehumanization. I’m saying yes to slowing down to see the people we serve—whether customers, patients, students, coworkers, friends, or family—as humans instead of objects. I’m all in for workplaces and buying spaces where people connect, co-create value, and build something meaningful rather than simply interacting in faceless transactions. 

What about you? Where do you stand? Are you for the people-first team or the profit-first team? The decision we (you) make here will define the world that gets built. Will it be caring or cold, connected or separated, utopian or dystopian? What will the next generation inherit? You (we) have an opportunity to make a move. It’s time to lead, serve, and bring back the humans. 

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