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(More customer reviews)Gratton asserts (and I wholly agree) that there are many compelling reasons for any organization -- regardless of size or nature -- to become and then remain what she characterizes as a "democratic enterprise." Here are five on which she focuses throughout this brilliant book:
1. Employees who experience democracy are more engaged.
2. Democratic enterprises create win-win situations.
3. Democratic enterprises are more just and fair.
4. Democratic enterprises are more agile.
5. Democratic enterprises are more able to integrate.
It is no coincidence that when Fortune magazine publishes its annual lists of the most admired, best to work for, and most profitable corporations, respectively, several names appear on all three and others appear on at least two. To varying degrees, all are (by Gratton's definition) democratic enterprises.
At this point, I feel obliged to reassure those who read my brief commentary that this book is mercifully free of esoteric theories, hypotheses, etc. which so frequently descend from various ivory towers like leaflets. She devotes all of the first chapter to what she calls "Citizens' Tales." She introduces her reader to three corporate executives -- Greg Grimshaw (BP), Nina Bhatia (McKinsey), and Stewart Kearney (BT) -- and carefully explains how why each is important to her/his company, what each has done to be the best he/she could be, and what her/his company has done to sup[port those efforts. Citing reasons such as those listed earlier is easy. Validating and verifying them in the careers of three people is infinitely more difficult and Gratton succeeds brilliantly.
Grimshaw, Bhatia, and Kearney are representative in that they "reflect the choices and dilemmas faced in day-to-day working lives...By observing them and the companies in which they work we are witnesses to the ebbs and flows of the contemporary enterprise...[They are] citizens rather than employees [because] they are adopting some of the conditions of citizenship and all are members of companies adopting some of the tenets of democracy." According to Gratton, it is in the best interests of institutions and organizations to serve the best interests of their "citizens." Why? First, by encouraging individuals to become autonomous and agile, they will themselves become more agile. Next, if they are committed and purposeful, their people will be committed and purposeful. Finally, the tenets of democracy (discussed in depth, pages 33-42) create an appropriate platform to integrate diverse business initiatives.
In Chapter Two, Gratton briefly examines various forms of democracy (classical, liberal, direct, competitive/elitist, and legal) and the aforementioned tenets of democracy. Then in the following chapters (Three through Eight), she discusses "The Democratic Study" (which explores the six tenets in greater depth), "The Drivers to Democracy" (e.g. shifts in individuals and in technology), "Building Individual Autonomy" (i.e. how both individuals and organizations can become autonomous), "Crafting Organizational Variety" (real-world examples provided by BP, McKinsey, SONY, Unisys, Goldman Sachs), AstraZeneca, and BT), "Shaping Shared Purpose" (i.e. dimensions of accountability, obligation, trust, and power), and "Leaders and Citizens at Work" (e.g. the roles of the leader as philosopher and visionary and the roles of the team leader as creator of space and goal setter). In a single volume, Gratton has achieved a stunning application of fundamental principles of democracy (most of which were formulated in ancient Greece) to business issues, challenges, and opportunities in the 21st century. Obviously, it remains for each reader to determine the nature and extent of relevance of the material to the needs of her or his own organization.
Those who share my high regard for Gratton's book are urged to check out Jim O'Toole's The Executive's Compass: Business and the Good Society and his most recent book, Creating the Good Life: Aristotle's Guide to Getting It Right, as well as David Maister's Practice What You Preach: What Managers Must Do to Create a High Achievement Culture and David Whyte's The Heart Aroused: Poetry and the Preservation of the Soul in Corporate America.
Click Here to see more reviews about: The Democratic Enterprise: Liberating your Business with Freedom, Flexibility and Commitment (Financial Times Series)
"Gratton's book is timely and important. She is one of a small but influential band of business academics who have begun to question the "ideological gloomy paradigm" - the overwhelmingly negative assumptions about human nature that historically underpin management theorising.The Democratic Enterprise is one of the first interventions to crystallise these dissatisfactions and offer steps to a positive alternative model...The revolution is democracy and it starts here."The Observer "One of Britain's leading lights in human resource strategy"Financial Times Liberating your Business with Freedom, Flexibility and Commitment The Democratic Enterprise delivers the blueprint for a business built on choice and commitment.A business made fast through freedom and purposeful through meaning.This is a business people would choose to work for. These days individuals matter more than their roles, so how can we change the way we manage and organise people to make the most of their talent and energy? The free to choose are fast to act for an enterprise they believe in, but they're also the first to leave an organisation that fails them.In The Democratic Enterprise HR guru Lynda Gratton sets out a practical blueprint for designing smarter working relationships based on free choice and shared purpose - where autonomy, choice and trust breed speed, flexibility and commitment. This is the business we'd choose to work for, even if we have the talent and ability to leave.Smart people want a more grown-up relationship with their employers these days. And most businesses too, realise that they can get more from people through flexible and intelligent working relationships. So imagine a company where people have more freedom in how, where and when they work. Where they have more personal choice in their work, but also share more commitment with their colleagues to a bigger purpose. This is a business we would choose to work with. The Democratic Enterprise explores, from the perspective of the individual and the organization what it means to craft choice, and shows us how to use some of the basic principles of democracy to build organizations of which we can be proud.The book examines eight companies which have pioneered choice and democracy, and shows how:* the oil giant BP has created transparent internal markets for jobs enabling every employee to develop a breadth and depth of competencies*McKinsey & Co. has brought an unprecedented level of transparency to the ways in which associates can choose the projects to work on*Sony have created a ground-breaking digital system by creating a context in which engineers have real freedom to create worthwhile and meaningful jobs*Unisys has enabled every employee to access an enormous range of training opportunities to ensure they are truly becoming 'the best they can be'. *Goldman Sachs builds choice around the development relationships which are so crucial to personal and organizational development*AstraZeneca has brought complete transparency to employee access to pay and benefits. *BT has enabled many tens of thousands of employees to make locational choice* and finally,how HP has built discretion around time.Learn how each of these companies have pioneered the tenets of democracy and choice and by doing so have created strong, agile enterprises powered by employee engagement and collaboration. The Democratic Enterprise concludes by building a mandate for choice and democracy through focusing on the four building blocks: supporting individual autonomy; creating organizational insight; building organizational variety; and finally, crafting a sense of shared destiny. These challenges are set out for the role of the business leader, the role of the manager, the role of HR and the role of the employee, Read this book and learn how to: * Create a business in which talented people can develop and change without leaving * Understand your employees as well as you understand your customers * Design work content and culture that give people the freedom to choose and the freedom to act * Create shared meaning and purpose to drive daily motivation and inform daily judgement calls "Lynda Gratton has captured, in a very profound way, the emerging realization of what truly matters in transforming businesses: people, purpose, and participation. In a word, democracy."- Niall FitzGerald, Chairman, Unilever"As Lynda Gratton demonstrates in this marvellously written book, there is enough that corporate leaders and human resources specialists can do today to embrace the power of democratic processes to both raise the economic performance of their companies and build delightful organizations".- Sumantra Ghoshal, Professor of Strategy and International Management , London Business School"Lynda Gratton has crafted a new classic. Democratic Enterprise draws on Greek and political traditions about democracy -- demo (people) and kratos (rule) -- and applies them to modern organizations. It is a masterpiece that connects individuals and their organizations with rich theory and realistic action.- Dave Ulrich, Professor of Business, University of Michigan "Gratton"s thoughtful and creative work breathes life into the role of people in organizations."David Ulrich, Professor of Business, University of Michigan
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