Today I stumbled across the June 2012 blog post by Joe Gerstandt titled "I am over the 'business case' conversation" referring to his stance vis-a-vis the inevitable request by managers to have someone share with them the ins and outs of the business case for diversity or for inclusive leadership skills.
http://www.joegerstandt.com/2012/06/i-am-over-the-business-case-conversation/#comment-4024
I so loved his clarity, humour and humanity that it inspired me to write up my own 'opinion piece' on the case (business or otherwise) for including the reality of actual human beings with actual differences between them into the theory, practice and discipline of management.
How is it possible I continue to wonder, that in this day and age* it isn't self-evident that treating people** in a way that is inclusive of their diversity/uniqueness is a smart idea as well as a good business idea.
*We are out of the dark ages, right? I am not just imagining that!
**And by people, in a business context I am referring to customers, one's boss, one's teammates, one's employees, community members, vendors, etc. Actual people rather than 'resources' or 'capital' or 'talent assets'.
And before you ignore my little tirade for humanism in business because you assume that I don't have any practical real business world experience, let me remind the reader that I speak from experience and a sense of having evolved my capacity to think and act as a leader in business settings. I started my working career within an industry where 'eating one's young' was (and unfortunately still is) considered an unofficial but appreciated leadership style. I received my MBA from a top business school where (like all other top business schools) more focus was spent on spreadsheet/financial dynamics than on the workforce/leadership dynamics that produce (or do not produce) the output that the spreadsheets/financials try to optimize. I worked within the HR function of a multinational for a significant phase of my career and always felt like the function was too often stuck in the 19th century and yet had so much potential to make a difference if it just could shed outdated mental models. And through the whole journey, I have been intrigued (and dismayed) by how many organizations manage to survive year in and year out despite doing everything possible to kill the unique spirit of their employees.
When I hit my 40s, I began to wake up from the 'be successful', 'get ahead', 'fit in' self-imposed dream I was caught up in. I decided to go freelance to spend more of my time doing work I love in many different settings, and in ways that would be aligned with human-centered values. I now work as an external advisor/consultant/coach. I have learned to not fear the occasional fluctuations in income and that has helped me turn down assignments where the client starts out with what I judge as a combative stance against the obvious. I just say no. I have learned to walk away. I have reached an age when I don't want to have to work so hard to convince anyone in a position of leadership of the obvious. And by the obvious I mean that organzations hold the potential, at their very best and most productively profitable, to be unique works of social cooperation, empathy and creativity; places of connection with others, and a sense of accomplishment, while delivering a product or service and making a return for their investors.
Any other way of thinking of the priorities of organizing, leading, or managing is a) unimaginative and boring (and who really needs that tone in their work interactions?), and more importantly b) as harsh an exploitation of human beings and the human spirit as we nowadays judge indentured servitude to have been in middle ages or as the factory work of children was during the industrial revolution pre-reform phase. Any other way of organizing, leading or managing will certainly allow companies to survive and make a profit for a time (even a long time by human standards), but eventually it will go the way of those other forms of exploitation of the labor and creativity of human beings. And so all I need to do is to keep doing the work I do, and care about the work in my own way and in my own spheres of influence, and ride the wave of the future for as long as I can. And time and the generation to come will take care of continuing to improve/evolve things in the direction of a more humane and mature world of business. Thank goodness for that!
And in the meantime, I continue to work with the willing and the interested and the sceptical but open to the possibility.
