Corporate Souls
The other day I watched "Real Time with Bill Maher" and listened to his comments about the Walter Reed scandal. He was right on in criticizing the appalling treatment our soldiers have received at the hospital. But that is not the purpose of this post. It is more about his putting the blame on the fact that it was not a government agency that ran the hospital but an outsourced corporation. It might be true that this was a major reason for the fiasco but listen to what he went on to say:
“Corporations have no soul, which only care about the bottom line, which only care about greed. At least government workers might have a conscious, corporations never do.”
Well Dear Bill: I really do love your candor and agree with you that many corporations are sick and dysfunctional but you are dead wrong to put everyone in the same pot. It is a very prejudicial and ignorant comment. Sure we have plenty of the Enrons and Exxons. But you are showing the same ignorance, that you ridicule, when you attack people of any faith.
There are many great corporations that do have a soul. Even more than a soul they have SPIRIT. Not just the great American SPIRIT of enterprise and freedom but also the SPIRIT of compassion and stewardship.
Is Patagonia an angel that walks on water? No but it has SPIRIT.
Is Southwest without sin? No but it is the Messiah of the Airline Skies. Jut fly USAir and you will agree.
You know what else these companies have? SUSTAINABLE PROFITS, GREAT MORALE AND HAPPY LOYAL CUSTOMERS.
So are there more of the Soulless than Soulful? No.
I believe that each corporation has a collective spirit that is the sum of all the souls in the company. These are living breathing beings, with dreams, love, aspirations and also hurt, disappointment and shame. Those that are too hurt just read Dilbert and complain and blame. Those that are hurt but hold on to their dreams, vote with their feet, pocketbooks and some start their own companies or find better jobs. So the bottom-line? Whether you do something or nothing, you are the corporation. You always decide how it will look.
I will end this post with a slightly more inspiring quote than Bill’s, from a man I greatly respect.
"Business has become, in this last half century, the most powerful institution on the planet. The dominant institution in any society needs to take responsibility for the whole -- as the church did in the days of the Holy Roman Empire. But business has not had such a tradition. This is a new role, not yet well understood or accepted.
Built into the concept of capitalism and free enterprise from the beginning was the assumption that the actions of many units of individual enterprise, responding to market forces and guided by the 'invisible hand' of Adam Smith, would somehow add up to desirable outcomes. But in the last decade of the twentieth century, It has become clear that the 'invisible hand' is faltering. It depended upon a consensus of overarching meanings and values that is no longer present. So business has to adopt a tradition it has never had throughout the entire history of capitalism: to share responsibility for the whole. Every decision that is made, every action that is taken, must be viewed in the light of that kind of responsibility.”
Monday, March 26, 2007
Willis Harman - co-founder World Business Academy
Bill Maher
has it upside down
