Meritocracy is merito-crazy

It is good to be aware of this. We live in a meritocracy. We are told we deserve to be what we are. If we go well, it is our merit. If we go bad, it is our own fault. The positive outcome of meritocracy is that it makes us work and that is good. But it is essentially based on a lie. We are not what we deserve to be. If we go well, it is not our merit. And if we go badly, it may be our own fault, but it usually isn't.

Why do I tell this today? Well, this morning, the gospels brought us the parable of the workers in the vineyard, one of my favourites. This parable basically tells us that God is against meritocracy. He rewards us according to our needs, not according to our merits. And if we go well, it is essentially by grace, not by merit.

Moreover, also 'secular' philosophers like Alain de Botton have pointed out that today's extreme meritocracy causes status anxiety and destroys happiness. The truth is: we have much less control over our lives than we think. If we don't go too well, we should do our best, but we shouldn't be blamed. And if we go well, we should recognise how lucky we have been to get there.

So we should admit that the waves of fortune are somewhat beyond our control. Management thinkers should also recognise this. Let us get rid of our merito-craziness.

The Knowledge-Creating Company

During my latest lovely holiday period, I decided to re-read a book that I must have read 10 to 15 years ago. "The Knowledge-Creating Company" is a book written by Japanese professors Ikujiro Nonaka and Hirotaka Takeuchi. The authors not only confirm the importance of knowledge to companies in the same spirit like e.g. Peter Drucker. They go a step further and look into the process of knowledge creation. One -often forgotten- aspect of knowledge and knowledge creation is the importance of implicit, tacit knowledge, as opposed to the explicit knowledge that can be described in patents, procedures and handbooks. This implicit knowledge is hidden, not only in the individual people's minds but also in daily practices and in the collective soul of the company.

The book is inspiring because it builds on very solid foundations: Greek wisdom, Buddhism, the highest ethical standards, the best classics of management and some Japanese spirit. Including 'just hard work' of course. It is refreshing in this time of crisis because they neither come up with popular messages nor with unnecessary controversial theses.

I was also glad to read in the flemish magazine Trends that prof. Nonaka published an article in the Harvard Business Review where he pointed out the importance of the right type of knowledge to leadership. According to Nonaka, managers are nowadays too much focused on explict knowledge and short-term advantages. The right type of knowledge needed is however practical wisdom and a general concern for company and society. It is a bit idealistic but it seems like we need it?

Amsterdam

A significant moment for me was the Liveline project final review meeting in Amsterdam. I had already reported on the Liveline project in this blog. More about the meeting can be found on the Liveline project web site.

Afraid of progress

Rational arguments don't seem to matter too much. Last week, a gentechnology research area of the University of Ghent was destroyed because it contained gene-modified potatoes. I was glad to see that I was not the only one who didn't understand this. First: this field was a research field, run by scientists. Second: this research, when successful, can save millions of human lives on a globe that is bound to suffer from a major food crisis. In this case, rich people are destroying something that can save poor people's lives, simply because they are afraid of progress. I agree we need to be careful with gene technology before we put it into production. But that is what this research is all about. Should we let nature decide that the potatoes become food for insects and fungi? Humankind survived because it did NOT leave everything up to nature. Unless you consider human creativeness as a product of nature. Thanks to cross-fertilisation and domestication of plants, we are capable of discussing this new possibility today.

Status Anxiety

The famous philosopher and essayist Alain de Botton shows us in this book one of the main sources of unhappiness in society: 'status anxiety'. He explains the origins of the phenomenon, the main values of the leading classes throughout history, the evolution to meritocracy, the dependency on the opinions of others and the tendency to cultivate high expectations in life.

The author also points to 'solutions' that may not resolve but at least reduce the phenomenon: philosophy, art (including tragedy and comedy), politics, christianity and bohemianism. He shows how society has always found 'alternative' ways of defining or interpreting success in the course of the past centuries. He uses many facts and figures from 18th and 19th century society life.

I also believe status anxiety and distrust have now become the key drivers of what I called 'hyperactivity' in society. (See my blog in dutch.) Hyperactivity is the source of the seven plagues that affect society today: overconsumption, traffic jams, stress, depressions, air pollution, family disintegration and social injustice.

Zurich and public transportation

Zurich is a city that knows how to organise public transportation. There are still many traffic jams, but at least much more people use the public transport means, subway, tram, bus or trolleybus. Public transportation is not just for those who can't afford a car. It runs like a swiss clockwork. It is easy, self-explaining, clean, fast and timely. You arrive in Zurich as a total stranger and you are capable of taking the tramway to the place you need to be. Try the same in many other countries.

The Swiss show that it is possible to do better. Why can't we go there and learn from them? It would be an investment with excellent return.

Generosity: the ultimate cure for a sick economy

Today, we read in the newspaper that fourty billionaires are following their colleagues Bill Gates and Warren Buffet in donating half of their fortune to charity. Good news and a good catalyst to write this blog about the role of generosity in economy. On the other hand, I want to extend this role of generosity a little...In the example above, generosity is typically associated with charity, and is only the result of economic activity. I state in the blog below that generosity is actually the best lubricant in the economic engine and it is even an essential fuel in the case of the innovative economy. "Generosity" needs a little realignment in our list of human virtues. Giving away money or time without expecting anything in return is simply not done in economy. "There is no such a thing as a free lunch". The tendency of employees to perform unpaid overtime for their employer does not classify as generosity, but rather as economic pressure, lack of realism in expectations, neurotic behaviour or modern slavery. MBA programs do not even mention the word generosity. They teach, on the contrary, how to squeeze out the very last drop from an already squeezed out lemon. Even in the world of charity, real generosity is often mixed with other motivations like the concern for a good image or release of feelings of guilt, but let us now accept this for inevitable.

The opposite of generosity is greed. If greed brought us into this economic crisis, generosity should get us out. If we all agree that the new economy shall be based on innovation, we need people to take risks and invest in new initiatives. Venture capitalists stress the importance of sound business plans. But in today's economy, this leads to a dead end. First, business plans can always be questioned; a minimum of belief is needed. But what if there is no place for belief, what if the risk averse behaviour always seems more rewarding than the risk prone behaviour, like today? Secondly, if if an investment takes place, the pressure for quick results (greed) often kills the early growth of the vulnerable initiative. What we need are 'stupid' people who would spend their money anyhow, either because they have no alternative 'secure' job, because they detest the safe-secure status quo or because they don't want to live on society's back. This 'entrepreneurial spirit' has something to do with pride. These people exist, but society's pressure on these people is so huge now that they risk to become an extinct species. If it continues like this, the crisis will have a permanent effect on our economy. Let us pray for more generosity and entrepreneurship.