Friday, July 22, 2011

Democracy is not Popular

Is it possible that the same vast majority that believed political democracy could only work for the American colonies are just like the vast majority that now believe organizational democracy can only work for Groupon, WD-40, GE Aviation, Hulu, Great Harvest, Semco, and Seventh Generation and the other hundreds of democratic businesses?

Could it be that by dismissing organizational democracy, we are no less "ignorant" than we perceive the 42% of humanity that has not adopted political democracy to be? Is it possible that Thomas Jefferson's declaration that "men can be trusted to govern themselves without a master" should be universally applied to all adults in all aspects of life?

Trust is a funny thing. It is the mystery--and the genius--of what paradoxically inspires fear in the masses and excellence in the individual.
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2 comments:

  1. Jeffrey P. ColinNovember 10, 2011 at 1:18 PM

    Please take a look at our upcoming Business, Chimpzilla! This is the Facebook Page, a Website is soon to come!

    https://www.facebook.com/pages/Chimpzilla/141890282542013

    ReplyDelete
  2. David SNovember 15, 2011 at 4:42 PM

    Thanks Jeffrey for the info. Your vision is inspiring.

    ReplyDelete

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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.