Volume XXIII, Number 23 (Issue 1132) | June 9, 2025
Impaired Assets
According to sources I believe are reliable, an impaired asset is an asset where the fair market value is less than the value listed on its owner’s balance sheet. Before you tune me out thinking I am about to launch into a discussion of accounting principles, that is not happening as I lack the expertise. Instead, I want us to focus on what is within my wheelhouse. That is… what happens when an individual’s potential value (contribution) to their team, their employer, their community, etc., is not fully realized.
Think about it. For commodity-based businesses, apart from their inventory and physical plant, their most important assets – their people – go home at night. The same is true for organizations where there is extensive intellectual property, their people succeed in establishing a strong personal brand (bond with customers and other third parties), or their associates possess a level of institutional knowledge that is not easily replicated or transferred. Another form of impairment in the realm of human capital occurs when an organization makes a mistake by elevating someone into a role that is one step too far relative to their capabilities. That is, we must acknowledge the Peter Principal is real, alive, and far too well since it carries a substantial cost that spreads far beyond the individual who is promoted.
By now you should be picking up on my application of the term impaired asset. It is a metaphor for what is lost when someone fails to realize their full potential. Whether it happens because we cannot connect with our God-given talents, find and pursue our passion in life, are stymied in our career or relationship, work for an unsupportive or incompetent boss, or otherwise feel unfulfilled, the end result is the same – we miss our target. What is more, others lose out too because we are not doing what we were meant to do.
Bottom line: do not allow you or someone else to turn you into an impaired asset. Likewise, do not be guilty of turning others into impaired assets.
Soli Deo Gloria
“Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather determine this—not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in a brother’s way.” Romans 14:13
J. Keith Hughey
Mobile: (210)260-0955
E-mail: keith@jkeithhughey.com
Website: www.jkeithhughey.com
Transforming Potential into Unmatched Performance
Copyright 2025 by J. Keith Hughey. All rights reserved. Permission is hereby granted for reproduction and redistribution of this essay as provided under the copyright laws of the United States of America. Recent issues of Musings may be found at www.jkeithhughey.com. Your comments are always welcome.