Evolution to Inclusion

There are many books espousing systems from Holacracy to Meritocracy but few that will give you a first-hand account of the fears, failures, successes and stumbles from the view of a CEO. Vineet’s inversion of HCL was painful and productive, divisive and inclusive, respected and reviled.  He titles his book Employees First, Customers Second but his actions never marginalized any “value adding alliance”.  Customers were more important than ever.  Their concerns were addressed, ideas implemented, and alternatives explored.  All that was lost were the layers upon layers of aggregators.  Those who embraced their roles serving customers instead of sucking up to superiors were of greater value.  Every stakeholder was given a direct line to define their own destiny.  Positional power was replaced informal influence.

This is not a story of unattainable ideology but deliberate design.   The evolution to inclusion is not easy but it is also not entirely unfamiliar.  A system based on “enduring principles which recognized human imperfection and the need to structure a limited government of laws, dependent upon the consent of a people who, themselves, understood the principles.”  These became the foundation of the Great American Experiment.[i]

Some would say that we are an experiment that has gone awry but maybe it is that we have supplanted enduring principles with expedient process.

The solutions for our communities, companies and countries begins not with easy answers but with insightful questions.

If a heritage company growing at 30% can in just four years grow their customer base fivefold, reduce attrition by half, increase satisfaction by 70% and triple operating income then what is stopping you?

[i] http://www.nccs.net/will-the-great-american-experiment-succeed.php