Let us talk about culture today, the way we talk every other day. At the same time, let us see what is popular current culture in the world and what we feel should be present. The current world culture is about achievement, being at the top in our field, desired results, and proving that we are a superior race or religion. This is despite the recorded fact taken out from the writings of #yuvalnoahharari, the famous author of the #sapiens series, that humankind (#homosapiens) has been the most brutal factor in the annihilation of other species and races from the world since the beginning of the world. With that as our past performance and our current obsession with “achievement, being at the top in our field, desired results and proving that we are a superior race or religion” it is a herculean culture transformation task of equality, inclusivity, and diversity. The company’s talking of these will still focus on the results and achievements of the employees. There will still be competition in the market. Market share and profit generation will continue to be the focal point of boardroom meetings.
I really doubt, if there is ever any talk about keeping the morale of the employees high at the cost of a reduction in profit in most organizations? Invariably culture becomes a secondary goal compared to annual business growth. It is obvious that the primary goal will continue to take the main stage instead of the secondary. This brings me to the universally accepted definition of business about the maximization of shareholders' wealth. Can we have a business definition of “Making the organization grow with happier, peace-loving, and caring employee and management teams? If there are, I would love to be aware of those companies.
The problem of the current society is our talking of a different ideal and still, continue to be pursuing our daily routine unabashedly. Till we keep on talking about caring for our employees but facilitating the achievers in the team, the message will always be distorted. This cannot become a shared vision for the organization. And unless the vision is shared, there is no real growth in that direction.
It is a complex issue and I don’t claim to have any solution for this. At times, I just wonder, if some achievers or influencers like #Gates #Bejos #Zuckerberg #Pichhai, etc can initiate a dialogue in the business world on these lines. If institutions like Harvard and Stanford, to take a few names, can start focussing on these in their management courses, maybe our obsession with material growth will be replaced with a desire for an equal growth in equality, passion, and love for our fellow beings and the humankind. Maybe the universal problems of education, hunger, pollution, and disharmony in countries will start reducing slowly. Even if it is at a snail’s pace, it will still be a bigger achievement than all the achievements of science put together till now.
For the majority of the people, this cultural transformation may look like an ideal too impossible to even try, but since when the majority of the people have shaped the growth of humankind? I won’t mind joining the team if it starts forming. Is someone down there, who also believes in this crazy theory of mine? Do you agree with what I have brought above? Let us start the dialogue. Let us find the way to the business growth, and also take into the consideration of mental health of the employees and their families. Let us focus on #makingworkplaceshappier.
Let us talk and give me feedback on www.rajeevaranjan.com. Or would you prefer to give me a feedforward? Thanks for reading till the end.