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http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/mobile/?type=story&id=2016456437
A friend living in states sent this article.He was of the opinion that the only way to land among this lot of ‘privileged individuals’ was to either be really brilliant or be really well connected.That’s something I have seen most of us believe & it probably is quite true.As his disappointment showed it’s not possible for more than 99% of us to get there & of the 1% who land there if they do it because of their contacts …it’s just not fair!!
I agree yet I believe there is another solution which involves changing how companies are organized, better organizations where wealth & ownership is distributed not by right but basis effort.Of course the person who started & has taken the risk gets an advantage but the others who have helped building it are also acknowledged & it’s just not the top hierarchy but across the value chain.It also means flatter organizations than a single hierarchical behemoth. I believe this could work & somewhere there is a dream to build an organization like that..which is about making money,creating value but also where the employees who work there..enjoy & are rightfully acknowledged for their efforts.
My response to my friend:
I would put the reason slightly differently.
Consider the prefect scenario where there is a supremely ethical boss who's really putting in his best but the company is still not doing well because there are thousands of factors beyond his efforts & perspectives.
The challenge is that he is also the person who decides everyone's compensation (along with the board of course) .When the person leading also becomes the judge of his work the system is bound to mess up especially larger systems since no one knows where things are going wrong.You ask any ethical,intelligent,hard working person in the organization most of them will feel they should be justly rewarded thus better rewarded for their work.Only thing is most of them can't decide it's only the boss who can. And wouldn't most people want to give themselves the reward for their 'good' work especially the boss whose taken 20-30 yrs of his life to reach that place.
In smaller organizations will be lesser since systems are more transparent but may still be there.
And this was the case when we were looking at a perfect scenario of a great,hard working ,ethical boss. Even Jobs & Zuckerberg believed they deserved much much more than their partners & though all of them were 'bosses', the challenge was the same who decides the amount in an environment where there are no structures except a 'median' & where all the others are hell bent on increasing the median.
Anyway you should read this book 'maverick' by Ricardo Semler .It's about a multi million dollar south American company & his thoughts are interesting.I think a better solution is possible but needs a change in thought process.
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