Pushing a Democratic Workplace to the Extreme

 

Have you heard about WorldBlu?

WorldBlu is an organization that is trying to "...unleash human potential and inspire freedom by championing the growth of democratic organizations worldwide." They would ultimately like to see a billion people working in free and democratic workplaces.

What does that mean?

Tony Hsieh, CEO of online retailer Zappos says, "At Zappos, one of our Core Values is to create a positive team and family spirit. WorldBlu is a leader in the efforts to create happy, engaged workplaces and communities..."

In an article published earlier this month in the Financial Times, Traci Fenton describes why she founded WorldBlu as a college project in 1997. "I walked into work the first day excited, ready to engage and make a contribution. I walked out feeling dehumanized from a toxic environment using one percent of my capabilities. That's how people are being treated all the time."

The concept of a democratized work environment turns conventional management wisdom on its ear. However, I like the idea. In fact, I think it's a great model for project teams. I see the role of project leader in a more democratic project team as one of facilitator—which is a role that really makes sense for me.

I'm not a big fan of autocratic leadership styles. I'm a firm believer that if you give people a voice in the tasks and projects they're assigned to do and autonomy over how they do it, they typically excel.

Although WorldBlue might not have reached their billion people goal yet, you might be interested in the results they tout on their website so far:

• 25: Number of US states with WorldBlu certified democratic workplaces
• 60: Number of countries with WorldBlu certified members
• 220 Thousand: Number of employees currently working in WorldBlu certified democratic workplaces globally
• 500 Million: Estimated number of people who have read about WorldBlu in the media worldwide
• $15 Billion: Combined annual revenue of WorldBlu certified democratic companies worldwide

Winston Churchill once suggested that "...democracy is the worst form of government except for all those other forms that have been tried."

I wonder if it's time for project leaders to start looking at a more democratic way of leading teams.

Anthony Goodman, a writer for the Financial Times interviewed a couple of WorldBlu "certified" company leaders who have really embraced the concept of a democratic workplace. One of them was HCL Technologies, a large public company in India. Goodman quotes Anand Pillai, senior vice president of HCL: "People can be voted out of management if they receive negative feedback for two to three years in a row. They will become individual contributors instead."

If that makes you a little nervous, Pillai also says, "People have accepted leaders for who they are, not for who they are supposed to be."

I'd love to hear about your experiences with implementing more democratic practices among the project team.