Why would you not build a school?
A friend of mine once commented that if one wants to change the world one should build schools.
I had not thought about it in those exact terms, but I agree with Nariman to a 100%.
So, why would you not chip in and help re-build at least one of the thousands of schools that got destroyed in the Wenchuan quake last May?
Take a look at the project website (www.finnish-charity-school.org), or contact me directly. Right here.
Power, Results, and People
I’m preparing an article on the way the members of an organization view their workplace and how their views can under different circumstances shift dramatically and very quickly .
My inspiration to these thoughts comes from an organization which I have had the opportunity to observe over a long period of time as a very close outsider. This organization used to be fast growing with an entrepreneurial spirit with focus on results. Its employees used to be proud to be part of it and long for getting back to the office so they could get to implement the ideas they had hatched during the weekend. In less than a year it has changed for many people from being the “world’s best job” to being something completely different.
How does this kind of change happen? How can the organizational sentiment and level of employee confidence change almost over night?
One of my explanations revolves around the basic things that make us tick. My theory is that there are typically three types of people in an organization. Two of these types will be more prevalent towards the top of the pyramid. Some people strive for power, others for results. Then there are the overwhelming majority of "9 to 5" people who get their kicks outside of the workplace and could not care less about politics or sales-quotas.
All levels of management are full of either power or results driven people. The higher up you climb, the less likely you are to find a "9 to 5" person.
The power and results people are like oil and water. They view each other as either irresponsible entrepreneurs with no responsibility or stale bureaucrats with no vision. They do not mix very well. In fact, if allowed, they will try to get rid of each other in an organization. A top manager has to be very carefull about the mix of these people in his/hers organization. Both have their merits and both are very much needed - in different mixes, depending on the evolutionary stage of the organization. However, if too many people that are very strongly of either type get "control" at the wrong time, a organization can be on a slippery slope towards implosion.
For instance, if an organization that has been predominantly characterized by growth and entrepreneurial spirit experiences a dramatic shift in the upper levels of management, going from vison focus to organizing focus, the rest of the organization might be in for some interesting experiences.
Do you have comments to share on this topic? Please contact me here: oskar@startupshanghai.com.