Long entry here, but lots to say: A few days ago, I was fortunate to attend my first WorldBlu Council, hosted by the folks at Linden Lab/Second Life in San Francisco. From tools for implementing organizational democracy to quantum physics, the two days of amazine discussions provided many “ah has” for me and the group. We spent quite a bit of time examining the Linden Lab corporate model and its safe to say that they have constructed a truly next gen corporate model and culture, infused with corporate democracy at every step and interaction. From simple to complex systems, there is not one decision point or project managed without the flexibility and passion of true corporate democracy. We also heard from leaders and founders of new and traditional democratically run organizations such as Jiibe, BrainPark, Great Harvest Bread Company, and TakingITGlobal. Some background on the WorldBlu Org and the Councils, though:
WorldBlu is an organization founded and grown by Traci Fenton, believing that there’s a growing global movement towards creating workplaces that fully engage employees, giving them a voice and a stake in the outcome of their work. Believing great value — as well as a community — will emerge from shining a spotlight on organizations choosing freedom rather than fear, peer-to-peer relationships rather than paternalistic platitudes, and engagement rather than estrangement as their way of getting work done. On March 18, 2008, WorldBlu will announce the second annual WorldBlu List of Most Democratic Workplaces™ as a part of Democracy in the Workplace Day. The WorldBlu List 2008 will be the result of WorldBlu’s global search for organizations practicing democracy in the workplace. To view the WorldBlu List 2007 awardees, click here.
The WorldBlu Council, is the only peer-to-peer learning network in the world for C–level leaders committed to operating their organizations democratically. WorldBlu Councils provide the vital perspective that CEOs and their leadership teams need to build and sustain a world-class democratic organization.
The net net here is that we have already begun implementation of some of the techniques learned at the WorldBlu Councils, which will help us become more democratic and transparent, and allow us to better deliver on our services and mission, most importantly delivering the highest customer satisfaction possible.
For more info on the orgs I’ve mentioned:
WorldBlu – www.worldblu.org
BrainPark and Creation Step — www.creationstep.com
Great Harvest Bread Company — www.greatharvest.com
Greg Scott, CEO, Jiibe — www.jiibe.com
Linden Lab — www.lindenlab.com
TakingITGlobal — www.takingitglobal.org
Feelin' free,
Matt
Posted in: General Blog
