Your call may be recorded for training or quality improvement purposes

In my last blog entry I wrote about my disappointment in the limited ambition and nobility of the stated purpose of many corporate enterprises. A simple and everyday example of how a pedestrian sense of purpose may be shaping corporate behaviour then came to my attention. This had me reflecting on my own experience, and no doubt an experience that many of us share; the automated customer service menu on the end of the phone. Where did the real people go?

Let’s say that Purpose + Motive + Goals = Behaviour. Perhaps the goal and motive of organisational efficiency has (mis-)shaped the managerial mindset, drawing attention to the mundane rather than the noble? What kind of corporate purpose has produced the decision behaviour that introduces automated systems between people, an application of technology that creates distance, distrust and frustration? Perhaps the original purpose was to better serve and understand the needs of the customer, collecting information in the process. But the purpose was codified, no doubt ratified and the result is now vilified. Are calls to customer service numbers really recorded for training or quality improvement purposes? How many times does a veil of deceit mask a truth? Not intentional deceit, but deceit born out of automatic and repeated action caused by a shallow sense of purpose, a lack of thinking and reflection; a loss of context and perspective. And the organisation acts for it’s own convenience and protection, not for the customer.

The result is mediocrity. Which is a great shame as I’m convinced we don’t work with the aim of being mediocre. We soar when we can be connected, creative, collaborative and part of a collective purpose that appeals to our individual sense of greater purpose. Some organisations achieve this… for a while. Those with the courage to question, listen and stay open to a changing context can achieve it for much longer.

I agree with Euan Semple's recent blog entry; conversation counts, both on the inside and the outside of the corporate walls.

The change can't come soon enough

I've been browsing blogs and came across Washington's Blog. It's showing a collection of photos and video from the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster. I found it shocking, saddening and it moved me to feel thanks towards Jonathan Elinoff, the collator of the images.

But it's done more than shock and sadden me. It's helped me to put into words something I've been feeling for a while now. It's the dissatisfaction I feel with the way many large corporate enterprises define their purpose. Don't get me wrong; I'm not against corporate enterprises. I see them as a vital aspect of life and part of the bedrock of most economies. I am against the limited view many corporate executives have created and subscribe to; to “maximise shareholder” value. Now, I have a pension scheme and would like it to give me a reasonable return later in my life, so that means shareholder value is important to me too. But it’s not everything. How about the corporate enterprise that exists to service humanity and the living plant first, and then return shareholder value?

It’s time for a change of corporate thinking and the sooner it starts to happen, the better for all of us. A quote a by Bertrand Russell, the British philosopher, historian and mathematician comes to mind. Exchange ‘education’ for ‘enterprise’…

“It is because modern education is so seldom inspired by a great hope that it so seldom achieves great results. The wish to preserve the past rather than the hope of creating the future dominates the minds of those who control the teaching of the young.”

Washington’s Blog - http://bit.ly/aZNtEE

Finding the right words

I tried blogging a few years ago. Just a couple of postings and now I can't even remember what they were about. At that time I was experimenting, but with nothing particular in mind.

Do I have anything particular in mind now? Well, yes, a few things. I feel I now have a greater sense of personal purpose and a more irreverant way of considering some aspects of life. And I've been stimulated by the thoughts, guidance and words of others. Most recently this was from a day spent with a group of bright, open and sharing people as we sat round a table at Alchemy Road, which as I write it makes it sound like it could be from one of the Harry Potter books. And there was a bit of magic in the air. Guided by Euan Semple (www.euansemple.com) we explored the worlds of social media; blogging, Twitter, forums, wikis and so on. There's my stimulus. And that's what prompted me to find the right words, those being 'At the living edge'.

The notion of being at the living edge has been running around my head for the past couple of years. Until around 12 months ago I was a corporate person in a BIG corporation. When I joined the big corporation a sense of possibility ran through the place and this excited me and made the rest of the nonsense that comes with corporate life bearable to me. But shift happens. A change in CEO brought greater process control and apparent order, all of which was stifling to me. I found myself 'at the dead centre', which could be interpreted in two ways I guess. My interpretation focused on the 'dead' bit and I found myself longing for the living edge. So here I am now; at my living edge, a place of newness, possibility, options and excitement. I know that it's not a place for everybody, but I also know that right now it's the place for me.

Thanks to all of those who have helped me in my recent journey to the living edge - and that thanks also goes to those in the dead centre, without whom I may not have moved.