Resourcing Conundrum

I find myself caught in the conundrum of modern American labor: what to do?

I feel as if I am trapped between the Scylla of high and growing expectations and the Charybdis of the modern workplace. On the one hand (just as everywhere else), expectations are high and growing. We are doing more than ever and trying to ensure we meet all the expectations of the marketplace we work in. On the other hand, what I'm finding is that the resources we have are not sufficient for what we have.

Resources are a funny thing in current American business. There seem to be two types of companies: those that are able or willing to resource appropriately, and those that cannot or will not.

The distinction is important. There are, in my experience, companies which would increase their resources if they could but cannot due to budget and other constraints. Then there are others which, while they might have the resources to do so, will not.

The second part of the conundrum - beyond the the "do more with no more" part - is that resourcing is seemingly the one thing you cannot discuss.

Reputations, we are told, are build on individuals doing more with less. Do not seek to build empires - seek to be more efficient, to be resource conservator rather than a resource spender, for this is the way to true success. Too often, to suggest that additional resources are needed is to imply that one is incompetent, not able to fulfill the duties one was hired for - let alone seek to achieve more.

Mistakes or failures due to resourcing become the issue never discussed, the elephant in the room. It simply is not discussed, as it becomes the thing by which other people point and discuss the failure to perform.

Other paths can be tried, of course. Efficiencies can be sought. Items can be delegated and departments can be empowered (however, all the delegation and empowerment will not assist in completing something if the will is not there). Plans and programs can be drawn up and rolled out with great fanfare.

But that still leaves the issue: how does one meet the expectations that are given based on the resources available when, deep in one's heart, it is simply not enough and there is no way of securing the sufficient amount?