so·cial·ism noun \ˈsō-shə-ˌli-zəm\
1 : a system of society or group living in which there is no
private property
2 : a stage
of society in Marxist theory transitional between capitalism and communism and
distinguished by unequal distribution of goods and pay according to work done
A scaring thought in the corporate world so used to hierarchical,
top down, do-what-I-told-you model. Can
the S-word (I know what you thought but I meant Social), belong in the same
phrase with the C-word (I meant Corporate just in case you had any other
creative idea)?
The thought of allowing people at all levels to speak freely
in a corporate environment feels like a dictatorship enforcing free speech for
its people, a nice conversation between Government and Unions, allowing woman
to vote a century ago or people from different ethnicities to share the same
seat in a bus not that long ago.
Is social business the beginning of corporate socialism? Is Marx becoming real at the heart of the
capitalist world? I know a lot of people
are cringing now. Some of these words
put together bring back memories of the most fearful time of a generation. Socialism, Marxism, Communism, Capitalism, Cold
War, Nuclear War, End of the World. I
know, sounds scary for some of us. But
it’s good that most in the social revolution didn’t live through that and don’t
have the same reaction.
There will always be a certain level of command and
structure required for an organization to run.
Ever since I joined the corporate world back in 1990 I hear about
reduction in hierarchical levels, elimination of higher and middle management, improving
our listening skills, etc. It seemed my
promotions were always timed with corporate culture change. Every time I was promoted matched the time
the level I now belonged to no longer had the right for an office. Worse than that, it was always perfectly synchronized
with workforce reduction and empowerment down the ladder. What meant in reality fewer direct reports,
and luckily the same but most often more work.
So, while my boss had 10 people and a nice office, by the time I was
promoted to take his job I had 2 direct reports and the same windowless
cubicle.
And now this Social Business thing. After all things we had to put up during our
careers, we have to allow anyone in the company to say what they think and
smile! We have to share with everyone the
knowledge that gave us competitive advantage to grow our career? Share that knowledge with those who are
competing for a promotion with us, when unemployment rates are high and the
world is in economic crisis?
Yes. Companies are
becoming social. Under the following
definition corporate socialism is happening.
I define Corporate Socialism as:
1 : a system of management
or team working in which there is no private knowledge but protects
intellectual property.
Whether this will happen through generational change in the
corporate world or paradigm change in the current management model is the only
question to be asked. People will learn
that socializing knowledge while protecting intellectual property will make drive
results. Those retaining it will get
stuck in the past and will be eventually forgotten there. And no; retaining your knowledge will no
longer help your career.
