What does... "PIC" actually mean?

The acronym "PIC" is currently rising in use at the same rate as the desire for what it means: a "Person In Charge". Every company, every organization and every agency dreams of having such a person in their own ranks or vis-à-vis. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, "in charge" means "the person who is officially responsible for ... ", in German, the person who is responsible or takes responsibility for something.

A rare species. Especially when it comes to making decisions - which is often necessary in our industry. But even if something goes wrong, it would be nice if someone would take responsibility for it.

Taking responsibility should be learned

The bigger the company, the more people talk. That is an old adage. However, the more hierarchical or holocratic the organization, the more rampant collective irresponsibility becomes. Yes, you read that correctly. Hierarchical levels are often only assigned responsibility in salary negotiations and holocratic free spaces are rarely filled with responsibility.

And when these two organizational forms collide in the decision-making process, nothing usually works. But beware, it's not as if agency equals cool and holocratic and customer:in equals bullish and hierarchical. Those days are long gone. Many companies have changed rapidly in the last ten years thanks to digitalization and the pandemic, while many agencies are still stuck in their toxic award, bonus, title and hierarchy thinking.

However, persons in charge are in short supply on both sides. Perhaps that is why the acronym PIC has become so popular. And not only in our industry. When things really go wrong in an even more toxic hierarchical organization, as was recently the case at the major bank that no longer exists, then a whole other industry, indeed a whole country, is desperately looking for the PICs responsible for this disaster. And those who cannot simply leave the picture must then regroup and wait for the new/old bosses to make up their minds.

On the one hand, this then affects frustrated employees who have to reapply internally for a position they already hold. Or on the other hand, those whose employer no longer exists, which means they have to suck up to new PICs who were still their bogeymen until March 18, 2023.

But beware, even in holocratic or at least flatly organized companies, PICs are often in short supply. Responsibility is demanded, but then people prefer to take on responsibility only where it suits them. And this has nothing to do with age, as is often rumored. Young people simply want to know the reason, the goal, or the purpose for which they are to assume responsibility. These would be picky PICs.

* Benno Maggi is co-founder and CEO of Partner & Partner. He has been eavesdropping on the industry for over 30 years, discovering words and terms for us that can either be used for small talk, pomposity, excitement, playing Scrabble, or just because.