Archive for January, 2010

The Accountability of Business

January 29th, 2010 | 1 comment

This week on Business Matters, find out if accountability is possible in world of complexity and political expediency. When you talk to people, they wholeheartedly want accountability. When you ask if they want it in their own workplace, they begin to worry if it is just another way to be blamed when things go wrong.

We explore the adoption of accountability in organizations from three perspectives. First we look at it from the eyes of an academic. Then we talk with the author of the most popular book on the subject. Finally, we talk with a CEO who not only believes in accountability, he practices it big time.

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Joe Badaracco, Author, Question of Character,
Professor of Business Ethics, Harvard Business School |

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Joseph L. Badaracco, Jr., is the John Shad Professor of Business Ethics at Harvard Business School. He is also Senior Associate Dean and Chair of the MBA Program. Badaracco has taught courses on business ethics, strategy, and management in the School’s MBA and executive programs. Badaracco is a graduate of St. Louis University, Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes scholar, and Harvard Business School, where he earned an MBA and a DBA. He has also been chairman of the Harvard University Advisory Committee on Shareholder Responsibility and has served on the boards of two public companies. Badaracco has taught in executive programs in the United States, Japan, and many other countries and has spoken to a wide variety of organizations on issues of leadership, values, and ethics.

Badaracco’s research focuses on business ethics, particularly on leadership and individual decision making, and he has written four books on these topics. These are Business Ethics: Roles and Responsibilities, Defining Moments: When Managers Must Choose between Right and Right, and Leading Quietly: An Unorthodox Guide to Doing the Right Thing. His most recent book, Questions of Character: Illuminating the Heart of Leadership through Literature, was published in April, 2006. It presents the lessons for leaders suggested by works of serious literature.

Roger Connors
Author
The Oz Principle: Getting Results through Individual and Organizational Accountability

Download MP3 Roger Connors is a principal and founder of Partners In Leadership, Inc. Over the last twenty years, Partners In Leadership has become a widely respected international leadership and management consulting firm that has implemented consulting and training services in a myriad of organizations ranging in size from small “start-ups” to Fortune 500 companies. Roger has assisted scores of management teams in successfully Accelerating The Cultural Transition(R) in their organizations to a Culture Of Accountability. He has significant experience in helping management teams facilitate large scale Cultural Transition. In addition, he has worked with numerous management groups to assist them in building teams and in building greater accountability at all levels in the organization. Roger holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Brigham Young University and a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Brigham Young University He is the co-author of the best-selling book, The Oz Principle: Getting Results Through Individual And Organizational Accountability. He is also co-author of Journey To The Emerald City: Achieve A Competitive Edge By Creating A Culture Of Accountability. In 2009, Roger co-wrote, How did that Happen: Holding People Accountable for Results the Positive, Principled Way.

Shawn Boyer, Founder & CEO, SnagAJob.com
2008 National Small Business Person of the Year |
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bio_shawn1 Shawn Boyer founded SnagAJob.com in 1999, and since then, he has taken the company from being a start-up to the nation’s largest part-time and hourly job-posting site. In 2008, Shawn was named the nation’s Small Business Person of the Year by the U.S. Small Business Administration. That same year, he also saw one of his most ambitious goals for the company come true when SnagAJob.com was named a Best Small & Medium Company to Work for in America by the Great Places to Work Institute.

Prior to starting SnagAJob, this big thinker and passionate leader was actually a transactional attorney for Brown & Wood LLP (now Sidley Austin, LLP) and Watt, Tieder, Hoffar & Fitzgerald, LLP. He holds a Master of Law in taxation from Georgetown University Law Center, a Juris Doctor from Washington & Lee University, and a Bachelor of Business Administration from the College of William and Mary.

Aside from mowing lawns in middle school, Shawn’s first hourly job was in a retail store in his sophomore year in high school. “From day one, that job taught me that the customer is absolutely the organization’s lifeblood, that they drive the business, and that you need to bend over backwards to wow them.” That same philosophy is embraced throughout SnagAJob.com today.

For Your Consideration

A personal challenge to be accountable for everything.

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Be Accountable

January 29th, 2010 | post a comment

This topic of accountability goes far and deep. It is so important that we dedicated an hour to it on today’s Business Matters program.I offer you a very personal view of why accepting accountability may be the most important thing you can do.

We are a country where we blame others when things don’t go our way. We are clearly the most litigious country in the world with the highest per capita number of lawyers anywhere. I don’t think any of us believes that we have a culture that is more devious or more careless than the rest of the world. So why so many lawyers.

I know my thoughts may seem simplistic, and I still challenge you to consider the consequence of this situation. I suspect we have so many lawyers because we are afraid to be accountable.

When something doesn’t work out the way that we expect, often our first response is to find someone to blame. If I have a car accident, our first response is often, “what is wrong with the other driver, what is wrong with the maintenance of the streets, what is wrong with the way the car was made”. The list goes on and on.

What would happen if the first question when something doesn’t work is, “what is my accountability?” This simple questions doesn’t absolve others from being accountable – I’ll address that in a minute. Let’s just stay with you.

If I start considering this question, “what is my accountability?” several possibilities appear. The first is that I can learn from the situation. In the case of the automobile accident, maybe I was also distracted, or maybe I was driving faster than necessary. The second outcome can be a sense of having more control over my life. One of the big worries in this country is people feeling that they have lost control over what’s important in their lives. Well here’s a way to get that feeling back.

Let me address the issue of the accountability of others. I believe that we are all accountable for the situations we experience. That means that you are accountable and I am accountable. With this approach, we start honestly finding out how we both contributed to a situation. Then we can work together to create the kinds of outcomes we both would like to have.

On the January 29^th Business Matters program, we found that businesses that create cultures of more accountability have improved relationships with their customers, their shareholders and themselves. Not only that, they are more profitable.

Why not extend this commitment to accountability to your local community or your state or this country. Sure there will moments when someone else doesn’t accept accountability and want to blame others, maybe even you. Don’t let that stop you. This accountability thing works. Why not give it a try?

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The Raw Milk Program

January 22nd, 2010 | 2 comments

The power of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has been focused on a national effort to ban the consumption of raw milk. This tireless effort has not been entirely successful. Today raw milk can be purchased at either the farm or retail in 28 states. Wisconsin has a bill currently winding its way through the legislature to legalize farm sales of raw milk.

Those who are on the front line of this issue clearly see that the fight is about more than raw milk. It s about the consumers’ right to decide what they eat. This concern has risen with the recent approval by the by the US House of Representatives, known as Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009. This legislation is making its way through the US Senate. This will give the FDA much broader authority particularly in the area of food safety. This wasn’t motivated by the raw milk controversy, it came out of other food borne disease issues. The FDA stance on raw milk gives many consumer advocates concern about the impact this legislation will have.

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David Gumpert
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David Gumpert is a journalist who contributes regularly to BusinessWeek, Grist and The Nation. Faced with a diagnosis of prostate cancer, David found out first hand about the business of health care. This motivated him to share what he has learned in his popular blog, The Complete Patient Blog. He has also written a number of books about small business and entrepreneurship, including Burn Your Business Plan! His latest book is, The Raw Milk Revolution: Behind America’s Emerging Battle Over Food Rights

Peter Kennedy
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Peter is a Sarasota, Fl. Attorney who is the President of the Farm to Consumer Legal Defense Fund Pete works on dairy issues for the Weston A. Price Foundation, particularly, the right of farmers to distribute raw milk and raw milk products direct to consumers. He has represented or assisted in the representation of dairy farmers facing possible state enforcement action in Florida, Wisconsin, Ohio, Michigan and Indiana. He has helped farmers get started in the business of distributing raw milk and raw milk products in many other states. He has written articles for Wise Traditions Magazine on the interstate ban on raw milk products for human consumption and on the legality of selling raw milk interstate for animal consumption. He compiled the state raw milk laws and state raw milk summaries posted at www.realmilk.com. He is currently working with others to challenge the federal ban on the interstate shipment of raw milk for human consumption.

Max Kane
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Max is a Viroqua, Wisconsin resident who was diagnosed with Crohnes disease at the age of 10. As a young adult Max was 5′11” and weighted just 110 pounds. Finding that traditional medicine wasn’t providing a cure, Max went on a raw food diet. It worked. Max gained 80 pounds and is in the pink of health. This experience has motivated Max to be a national advocate for the benefits of raw milk. Last year Max went coast-to-coast on his Ride for Raw Milk. More recently, Max is defending himself in court as the attorney general of Wisconsin is trying to get Max to divulge information on members of a raw milk cooperative* in Chicago named Belle’s Lunchbox.

For Your Consideration
Find out who’s watching over us when it comes to food safety.
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Who’s watching over us?

January 22nd, 2010 | post a comment

I have often wondered about the need in this country for consumers to be protected by our federal government. We have a number of regulatory agencies that want to take care of the unsuspecting consumer so that unscrupulous companies can’t take advantage of us.

We have the Food and Drug Administration, Federal Trade Commission, and the Consumer Product Safety Commission that are augmented with non-profit organizations like the Better Business Bureau, National Consumer League, the Consumers Union and the Consumer Federation of America. All these groups are watching out for my safety.

All this protection has me a bit nervous. For one thing, I wonder why they are protecting me. In this day of almost unlimited information, what is it that I need protecting from. Sure a few companies might sell some stuff that is substandard, but if I check the web before I buy, I will know about these folks. It’s almost like I have acquired a new parent. Someone who has decided what is in my best interest and because they know better than me they will make sure I am not taken advantage of.

One of the problems with this way of thinking is that these organizations assume they know what’s right for me. I believe that for the most part they have good intention, But I wonder how they can know what’s best for me. Particularly, when I haven’t talked directly to any of these organizations. So what are they basing their criteria for what’s best on? Is there a belief that we can homogenize our needs as humans to the extent where a set of standards will fit everyone? So when someone decides for me what’s best, it might be good for me to know how they reached their decisions. Otherwise, I become a tranquilized couch potato that has lost touch with my world.

Now I can delegate my decisions to others if I like. That seems to be a bit contrary though to having a strong country of informed and accountable citizens.

The second thing that bothers me about all this protection is that it doesn’t seem to work in some important areas. For instance, who protected all those folks who got sub-prime loans whose interest rates skyrocketed after the first year? Or who has protected consumers from high bank charges or escalating interest rates on credit cards or consumer check cashing offices that effectively charge 300% interest? Or how about the rush to get H1N1 vaccine to market only to have hundreds of thousands of doses recalled?

It seems that the best protection for me and you is to be well-informed and acting deliberately. I have a good idea about I want, why its valuable to me and what I am willing to pay in terms of money and safety to get it. I am not advocating a time of letting everyone fend for themselves. I think guidelines are great and that standards are fine as long as there is transparency in the standard setting process and we only apply standardization for high risk public safety concerns.

This week’s Business Matters program on raw milk had me wonder why it was so important for the FDA to take care of me when I can make an informed decision about this product. I appreciate their input and accept a requirement for consumer labeling, but if public safety is the FDA’s concern why don’t they focus on alcoholism and tobacco addition?

So let’s be more informed. Let’s reduce the need to be taken care of. I have a sense that we will all feel safer if we do.

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Worker Owned Cooperatives

January 15th, 2010 | 3 comments

Since the advent of the industrial revolutions there has been a noble experiment both here and abroad of businesses that owned and democratically controlled by their worker/owners. If you know about these types of businesses, you probably think of them as small and local. For the most part that’s true here in the US. However, if we look across the Atlantic we find a very different story.

Since its modest beginnings in 1956 as technical college and a small workshop producing paraffin heaters, the Mondragon Corporation is a worker owned collective of cooperatives that is the seventh largest Spanish company in terms of turnover (almost $2B) and the leading business group in the Basque Country. At the end of 2008 it was providing employment for 92,773 people working in 256 companies in four areas of activity: Finance, Industry, Retail and Knowledge. This model is also prominent in Italy and other countries in Europe. The story in the US has been not so strong.

Today on Business Matters, we will explore the history of the worker owned cooperatives in the US. We will talk with several success stories and a financial collective that provides funding for these type of businesses. Finally, we will talk about a recent remarkable development that links the Mondragon folks and a large US union in a novel experiment.

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Melissa Hoover
Executive Director
US Federation of Worker Cooperatives

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The United States Federation of Worker Cooperatives is a national grassroots membership organization of and for worker cooperatives, democratic workplaces, and organizations that support the growth and development of worker cooperatives. Founded in 2004 as the result of several years of organizing on the part of worker cooperatives and regional groups from around the country.

They provide support to their members and educational outreach to the public through conferences and events, resource referrals, and networking and training opportunities. Check out the various sections of their site to connect to resources and see what’s happening in the dynamic and growing world of worker cooperatives!

Erbin Crowell
Outreach Coordinator
Cooperative Fund of New England

Download MP3 Erbin worked for over ten years with Equal Exchange, a worker-owned co-operative marketing fairly traded coffee, tea and chocolate from small farmer co-ops. He is currently working on a pilot program for Domestic Fair Trade. He has served in a number of elected roles with Equal Exchange, including chair of the board and worker-owner coordinator. Erbin brings to Cooperative Fund of New England a commitment to workplace democracy, community-based economics and sustainable agriculture. He holds a BA in anthropology and the visual arts from Brown University, and is currently working toward a Masters in Management (Co-operatives and Credit Unions) from St. Mary’s University in Nova Scotia, Canada.

The Cooperative Fund of New England is a non-profit organization supporting cooperative development in the Northeast area of the United States. The Fund provides alternative financial services and related technical assistance to cooperative organizations at favorable rates and terms. Its policies generally accord eligibility on the basis of community service, need and merit.

Operating on a small budget, the Fund has been successfully assisting a wide variety of cooperatives, non-profits, worker owned businesses, and community groups since 1975. Funds for program lending are provided by “social investment loans” from individuals, religious groups, cooperatives and other organizations. Social investment loans are furnished on a long-term basis at low to moderate rates of interest. This investment option may be of interest to persons with discretionary financial resources who have strong social concerns about the use of their funds. Support may also be provided through tax-deductible contributions.


Joseph Tuck
CEO/ General Coordinator
Alvarado Street Bakery

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Joseph Tuck is the General Coordinator/C.E.O. of Alvarado Street Bakery. Joseph started work at Alvarado Street Bakery in 1981 as a sanitation worker and over the years gained expertise both in the baking business and in worker cooperatives. Joseph has held his current position for over twenty years. In this period of time Alvarado Street Bakery has been fortunate in realizing significant growth both in its revenues and profits. Joseph has assisted the cooperative’s evolution organizationally in ways that meet the needs of their customers while giving good returns to its worker members. Currently the average hourly worker/member earns $30 dollars an hour that is augmented by a robust benefit and 401k plan. On top of the compensation package worker/members have also had yearly redemption of stock dividends that has averaged around $14,000 per year. Joseph has provided technical assistance to various bakeries and food processors in the Russian Federation. His experience in managing a worker cooperative in a free market economy did give Joseph a unique perspective in terms of assisting Russian businesses during the first years of Perestroika. Before his employment at Alvarado Street Bakery Joseph lived in the western highlands of Scotland and was employed as a shepherd/ghille.

Alvarado Street Bakery is one of the most successful worker-owned cooperatives in the US. It provides quality baked goods to its customers nationwide. For over 20 years Alvarado Street Bakery has been a leader in producing healthy, organic whole grain breads.

Alvarado started producing whole grain organic baked goods for their local community in 1979. Their roots can be traced back to the “Food for People not for Profit” movement in the San Francisco Bay Area. They were originally part of a non-profit organization called Red Clover Worker’s Brigade. The brigade consisted of the bakery, a retail store (Santa Rosa Community Market), a trucking company, and a wholesale warehouse.

In 1981 five brigade workers decided to form a worker cooperative. They purchased the bakery and formed Semper Virens Bakery Food Cooperative. Semper Virens in Latin means “ever green” and is the botanical name for one of our area’s largest treasures, our ancient redwood forests. They decided to change the business name to Alvarado Street due to a serendipitous placement of a road sign stowed away in the bakery.

Michelle Matos
Co-op Development Trainer
WAGES Cooperative
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Michelle joined the WAGES team in November 2008 as a Co-op Development Trainer, and provides tailored technical assistance and workshops to foster skills for new and existing co-op members. Michelle is a promoter of social justice with over 10 years of experience in organizing, leadership development and facilitation. Together with community-based organizations, Michelle has developed the leadership of immigrant workers and communities of color by conducting issue-based research and facilitating grassroots leadership development, trainings and strategic planning processes for both short-term campaigns and long-term community initiatives. Michelle holds a degree in Cultural Studies from The New School University.In the years that have passed they have continued to grow and reach out to customers that now span the globe. Currently they employ over 100 people and produce and distribute over 30 organic baked goods.

For 15 years, WAGES, Women’s Action to Gain Economic Security, has worked with low-income immigrant Latinas to launch green business cooperatives, a model that enables women to work together to succeed.

As co-op members, women have healthy work, good pay, and a voice and a vote in key decisions – and they distribute business profits equitably. WAGES provides training and technical assistance to incubate the co-ops and a framework for continued learning and business growth through our Co-op Network.

In addition to building successful cooperative businesses locally, WAGES conducts community workshops throughout the San Francisco Bay Area and consults with other groups around the country. They offer an in-depth Co-op Development Toolkit to qualified organizations, and we have provided technical assistance for a number of new co-ops inspired by their model.

Rob Witherell
Organizer
United Steelworkers

The United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union (United Steelworkers or USW) is the largest industrial labor union in North America, with 705,000 members.[1] Headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the United Steelworkers represents workers in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean. The United Steelworkers represent workers in a diverse range of industries, including primary and fabricated metals, chemicals, glass, rubber, heavy-duty conveyor belting, tires,transportation, utilities, container industries, pharmaceuticals, call centers andhealth care.
The United Steelworkers is currently affiliated with both the American Federation of Labor – Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) and the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC), as well as several international union federations. On July 2, 2008 the United Steelworkers signed an agreement to merge with the United Kingdomand Ireland based union, Unite, to form a new global union entity called Workers Uniting.

Find our about their agreement with the Mondragon Corporation by clicking this link.

For Your Consideration

Find out about the grass roots campaign to move bank deposits from the “big banks” to community banks and credit unions.

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Move Your Money

January 14th, 2010 | post a comment

These is a lot of talking about how mad we are that the big banks are paying out strongBillions/strong of strongDollars/strong in bonuses when they had their hands out just a year ago. Remember, they were telling us they needed the governments help to even survive. In fact, they were so convincing that they scared Congress into doing what they wanted with no strings attached.

Now a year later, they are telling us they made records profits and the executives deserve to be paid for their hard work. Now some folks are calling this one of the greatest frauds perpetrated on the US. Bill Black, a former government official during the Savings and Loan crisis laid this case out on our Cronie Capitalism program . Could be. But it doesn’t look like anyone in Washington is going to do anything substantive about this. Sure there’s hand wavering and lots of talk, but no real legislation and the dollars from Wall Street firms and big banks continue to flow in to the campaign coffers of both political parties.

But don’t despair. Maybe there’s something we can do about it. Something that doesn’t require the President or anyone in Congress to do anything. Something that can have a profound affect. What would that be, you may ask?

Over the holidays a group of people that included Ariana Huffington of the Huffingon Post were talking about what they could do about this clear inequity. They decided to start a campaign to recommend that people move their money from the large banks who has taken our taxpayer dollars to enrich themselves while failing to help homeowners or small businesses.

Take this money and move it to financial institutions that are part of the solution. The movement is called Move Your Money. It encourages people to move their money from the big banks to credit unions and community banks.

I know how convenient it is to have you account at Bank of America or Chase or Citibank, I was stuck in the convenience situation myself. But I realized that I am part of the problem unless I take action personally. So I did, I opened my personal and business accounts at a local community bank.

Some will ask are they safe? When you look at the problems of the financial crisis, you don’t find credit unions or community banks holding Credit Default Swaps or packaging up mortgages into securities and loosing contact with their customer. Sure profits may be down, but they still do business the old fashion way – face to face. They know you and you know them.

I am encouraging you to consider taking action. Find out more about this movement. Go to the moveyourmoney.info website and see what others are doing and saying. See if it this feels like the right thing for you to do. Remember that you can make a difference .

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FREE ON-LINE EVENT

January 12th, 2010 | post a comment

This month, we begin our series of monthly Dialogues that bring our listeners in direct contact with some of our most interesting and provocative Business Matters guests. We choose a topic for the Dialogue that touches on a vital concern. Thomas White and our guest engage in a wide open exploration of the topic that serves as a catalyst for the dialogue with our audience that follows. We then open the phones and web to questions from anyone who is part of the Dialogue. You might say, it operates a bit like a town hall meeting.

We are providing this service free on a first-come-first serve basis. The first 35 people who send us an email requesting attendance at the Dialogue will be sent information on how they can participate in this live event. If you don’t get to be part of the live Dialogue, will record the session and provide a free download in Podcast form on the Business Matters website.

This month our guest is Michael Mandel. Michael, until recently was the Chief Economist for BusinessWeek. Michael has launched several entrepreneurial ventures that touch on innovation and economic education. Mike will share with us more details during the Dialogue.

There is so much conflicting news about the health of the economy and what we can expect in the future. Michael and I will talk about the underlying factors that got us into the situation we are currently experiencing. We will then explore the role that innovation will play in changing the economic playing field. Finally, we will talk about what al this means to you both professionally and personally.

So send us an email at register@businessmatters.net to be part of this event. Then think about what you want to ask Michael during this unique experience. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions for future Dialogue guests, I invite you to write me at thomas@businessmatters.net.

DETAILS: Dialogue – JANUARY 28th – 3PM EST

What’ up in 2010

January 8th, 2010 | post a comment

As we enter the new year, three issues are on the top of our minds – what’s really happening with the economy, where will the health care legislation end up and what now after the disappointment of the Copenhagen summit.

We have found over the last year that often the information you get on Business Matters shows up on the network news in weeks or month. So we are continuing that tradition by taking you underneath the covers of these three issues to provide perspectives that you may not be hearing.

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Michael Mandel
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Michael Mandel was until recently the chief economist at BusinessWeek where he was responsible for formulating BusinessWeek’s coverage of economic policy. Prior to that, Mandel was economics editor for the magazine.

Michael is the author of several books, including “Rational Exuberance”, “The Coming Internet Depression”, and “The High Risk Society”. Michael recently started South Mountain Economics and where he writes his blog.

Trudy Lieberman
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Veteran reporter Trudy Lieberman is the president of the Association of Health Journalists, a nonprofit group dedicated to helping the public understand health care issues. She’s also director of the health and medicine reporting program at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism. For 29 years she covered economic, health policy, and health financing issues at Consumer Reports, and she’s a contributing editor to the Columbia Journalism Review.

She has won numerous honors and awards, including two National Magazine Awards, 10 National Press Club Awards, five Society of Professional Journalists Deadline Club Awards, a Fulbright Fellowship to study health care in Japan, a John J. McCloy Fellowship to study health care in Germany, a Joan Shorenstein Fellowship from Harvard University to study media coverage of medical technology, and an honorary doctorate of humane letters from the University of Nebraska. She is the author of five books, including Slanting the Story: The Forces That Shape the News and the Consumer Reports Guide to Health Services for Seniors, which was named one of the best consumer health books for 2000 by Library Journal.

Deborah Fleisher
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Deborah Fleischer is president of Green Impact, a strategic environmental consulting practice that helps companies engage employees, strengthen relationships with stakeholders, launch profitable green initiatives and communicate about their successes and challenges. She is the author of Green Teams: Engaging Employees in Sustainability and is a regular contributor tohttp://www.triplepundit.com.

She is a LEED AP with over 20-years of direct experience working with businesses, governmental agencies, and non-profits on environmental and sustainability challenges. She brings deep expertise in sustainability strategy, green teams, stakeholder engagement, program development and written communications. Her background includes a Master in Environmental Studies from Yale University and a Master in Public Administration from Harvard.

For Your Consideration

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Whose Accountable?

January 7th, 2010 | post a comment

President Obama has often spoken about a new air of accountability in Washington. He has extolled business leaders to bring a sense of ethical responsibility to their activities. Yet……

It doesn’t seem that much is different. On Christmas Day Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab attempted to blow up a Northwest Airline jet as it was landing in Detroit. It is clear from all accounts that Abdulmutallab was someone whom the intelligence communities were aware held a potential threat to US security. Yet with no apparent difficulty, he was able to board a US airline flight in Amsterdam and almost succeed in creating another public drama.

What’s at the bottom of this failure. My sense is that it about lack of accountability. After 9/11, there was much made about the inefficiency of the US intelligence system. Often agencies within the government act as if they are competing with each other to get the best information. These turf wars were shown by several investigations to have kept the clear picture of terrorist plotting 9/11 obscured.

OK, we make mistakes, but we are hearing the same kind of stories about the Abdulmutallab situation that we heard after 9/11. The intelligence organizations who had parts of the puzzle didn’t talk effectively to each other. This is the case even after hundreds of millions of dollars were spent to redesign the intelligence structure even putting in a new cabinet level leader as the Director of National Intelligence.

So why did we not succeed in tearing down the walls that block the free flow of information? I see this problem often in the businesses I work with. Companies have a crisis of some sort – perhaps its a financial disaster or a creditability problem that’s onerous. The board (like Congress) steps in to fix the problem. The way they look at it is that they can fix the problem with a new structure, a new set of rules and maybe a new leader. Mostly this fails, just like the situation in Washington.

Why? Because the root cause of the problem has not been addressed. The root cause is often the internal behaviors that can’t be easily reshaped by rules. Iterative change won’t work. What is needed is from the ground up transformational change. To bring this about requires great leadership who lead by example and inspire everyone to act in a manner that fundamentally changes the organizations mindset.

The first step to this change is leadershipo that is both transparent and knows how to not be trapped by the adage, “That’s how we have always done it here”. This sentiment comes from the comfort zone of insiders who don’t really want much change. After all, if change was real, what would it mean to their personal power and relationships? So the leader has to listen with discernment. Listen with ears that let them understand what’s real and what’s just a story to keep things the way they are.

The second requirement for real change is to establish a set of standards for accountability. Now this is not as easy as it sounds. I have never found an organization that’s having problems where there is real accountability from top to bottom. Now the good news is that the change can simply start with the new leaders and their key people.

What does accountability mean? It means that I am responsible to do what I say when I say it in a way that provides value. This means that personal agendas have to be set aside for the overall health and vitality of the organization. Like I said, we all make mistakes, but what we can allow is these mistakes to continue. If someone doesn’t learn from their errors, they are clearly in the wrong role and perhaps the wrong organization.

The last requirement for real change is to instill meaning into the work of the organization. Let those who work there know why what they do is important to themselves, their colleagues those who buy their good or services and to their communities.

In this short space, I won’t go in to more detail. I will say that its clear that none of these three requirements for transformational change occurred in the US intelligence apparatus. So change was impossible. I hope the current lessons will lead to real change before a tragedy becomes us.

Archive for January, 2010

The Accountability of Business

Be Accountable

The Raw Milk Program

Who’s watching over us?

Worker Owned Cooperatives

Move Your Money

FREE ON-LINE EVENT

What’ up in 2010

Whose Accountable?

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