Tuesday, November 11, 2008

The Tide of Democracy

After hundreds of hours (literally) of research, I have decided the direction of my website and, partly, my life. I want to organize and create a democratic business.

Sounds like wishful thinking? Well that's what I thought for a couple of days. I thought I was just being a little too wishful. Then I searched "democratic business" on google and I found a ton of results. I found out about businesses like Semco, DaVita, Southwest, and Great Harvest. I discovered that not only are the oligarchical-style corporations not necessary to create a stable company, but they impede stability. Most important, they undermine our faith and the faith of people around the world in democracy in so many ways.

I believe that if every American corporation was a democratic corporation, in less than 50 years, we would convert the entire world to democracy. Think of it. No more sweatshops. Everyone could feel invested in their job and company. What force would be strong enough to stop democracy from filling the world? Not even the world banks and oligarchy-style corporations could stop the tide.

I'm not the only one starting this movement. Research online. Discover for yourself the faith people are finding in democratic workplaces. Go to http://www.worldblu.com/. Many of the most talented people coming out of our universities are opting to be part of these democratic businesses because they offer work/life balance and they offer the ability to truly be part of the company and not just to work for a company.

I want to be part of starting another company on democracy's side. If you want to be part of the movement, email me, make comments, and tell everyone you know. I will be tracking the advancements of democracy in the workplace here, so keep updated.

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2 comments:

  1. Jon or EricNovember 11, 2008 at 5:43 PM

    Very cool Dave. I've thought of something like this before...it seems to make sense. Why not spread the wealth more evenly down to the lowest rung on the latter? What do you think of the idea of making it a democratic bank? I think you probably know where I'm going with this (think incredibly low interest rates on loans and a lot of happy customers)...Just one more way to confront the banks and oligarchy-style corporations. Let me know what you think.

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  2. David SNovember 12, 2008 at 2:26 PM

    You're right, spreading the wealth more evenly is one of the results of a democratic business.

    "what do you think of the idea of making a democratic bank?"

    I think that any business can be and should be run as a democracy, especially banks.

    The most important result of a democratic business is that the business exists to serve every one of the employees--not just a select few.

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How Will You Measure Your Life?

I recently read this article by Clayton Christiansen out of Harvard entitled, “How will you measure your life?” It is what he tells his students on the final day of his class.

One of the items that he mentions sticks out to me. It reads as follows:

“One of the theories, . . . . . how to be sure we find happiness in our careers—is from Frederick Herzberg, who asserts that the powerful motivator in our lives isn’t money; it’s the opportunity to learn, grow in responsibilities, contribute to others, and be recognized for achievements. I tell the students about a vision of sorts I had while I was running the company I founded before becoming an academic. In my mind’s eye I saw one of my managers leave for work one morning with a relatively strong level of self-esteem. Then I pictured her driving home to her family 10 hours later, feeling unappreciated, frustrated, underutilized, and demeaned. I imagined how profoundly her lowered self-esteem affected the way she interacted with her children. The vision in my mind then fast-forwarded to another day, when she drove home with greater self-esteem—feeling that she had learned a lot, been recognized for achieving valuable things, and played a significant role in the success of some important initiatives. I then imagined how positively that affected her as a spouse and a parent. My conclusion: Management is the most noble of professions if it’s practiced well. No other occupation offers as many ways to help others learn and grow, take responsibility and be recognized for achievement, and contribute to the success of a team. More and more [people think] that a career in business means buying, selling, and investing in companies. That’s unfortunate. Doing deals doesn’t yield the deep rewards that come from building up people."

I’m sure you can see why it sticks out.