The myth of autonomy debunked, what about the myth of initiative?

photo by r8r
We've all been conditioned into believing that only a small percentage of all people are able to work autonomously. The machine/control paradigm of management is founded in this belief. In order to make people productive apparently you need to tell them what to do and how to do it.

Classical hierarchical organizations work that way. The executive sets up goals and directions, managers translate them into concrete directives and actions and pass them to their employees. Employees execute these orders. The employee is seen as a mechanical piece, part of a complex mechanical system. The machine metaphor is clearly apparent here. He/she needs to execute the given tasks within the imposed constraints. Yes, there is feedback going from the employee to the manager, and up to the executive, but there is very little autonomy.

It turns out that human organizations behave quite differently from mechanical automata, especially when creativity is the goal of the game. First, an organization needs to win the cooperation of it's members. A mechanical piece has no consciousness, no free will. You put it into its place within the system and it turns the way it is supposed to. A human being has the choice to do a great job, or a crappy job. In order to gain the full cooperation, organizations must satisfy for the individual some fundamental psychological and material needs. The individual needs to perceive that his/her contribution is important, that he/she is part of something bigger-a form of spirituality. The individual needs to perceive that he/she is respected, valued, appreciated. The individual must also believe that his/her contribution is justly rewarded, etc. etc. Second, it is now well understood that the working environment and all the psychological needs of the individual affect creativity in a major way. Even if you gain the full cooperation of your employees, you are still not sure that the creative juices are flowing to the optimal capacity.

Google understood all this! Among all the successful companies, their employees have the greatest autonomy. On Google's campus you find cafes, bars, swimming pools, game rooms, parks, you name it. You can take your laptop and work from the swimming pool, and your boss is not going to be there to pass you the sunscreen. Google understood that they can get more from their employees if they only emphasize on the job that has to get done, and let the employee decide how to do it. And it works! The myth of autonomy was debunked.

But there is another myth. We are told that the great majority of us have no initiative. If we are not given directions we don't know what to do. We might be autonomous, i.e. able to organize ourselves once we know what has to be done, but the majority of us are apparently incapable of setting goals and directions. What about Linux? Who tells developers which directions they should take? This myth is about to be debunked as well.

I am not advocating that all human beings are autonomous and show initiative. But what is the real percentage? The opposition to my argument brings up statistics, scientific studies made on our actual society, showing only a very small percentage of driven individuals with initiative. But wait a second! There is something scientifically wrong here, the method could be good, but the conclusions are false. The logic used is flawed. We are talking about what us humans are capable of, about our potential, we are NOT describing our actual society. We've seen that before. A scientific study on black slaves on a plantation in South Carolina USA, at the beginning of the century, would most probably reveal that the majority of these individuals were submissive and dependent. Can we conclude that it is in the nature of a black person to be submissive and dependent? Of course NOT! We know that humans are malleable. Put a child into slavery and he/she will adopt a slave mentality. It is a matter of adaptation! You don't comply you die! It is about adaptation, it is a force rather than a weakness. This shows the capacity of all humans to thrive in harsh situations. But once slavery was abolished these same people rapidly acquired the skills to live in society. They become teachers, business man, scientists, doctors, and even presidents.

Our actual system has made us dependent! Our masters only need us to produce, not to be autonomous, not to show too much initiative. We have bee conditioned into being docile and dependent. The scientific data describing individuals only describe the actual system, NOT the our potential.

What is the percentage of autonomous individuals with initiative, potentially speaking, within a culture of freedom and self-determination? If YOU are not a such person you may want be become one, YOU CAN. 

By AllOfUs

You need a job? Why don't you create your own?

Think MULTITUDE !

The multitude movement is a global fast-raising social movement based on the realization that the new technology offers us very powerful tools that we can use to improve our lives, to free ourselves from different forms of monopolies. This movement will rapidly shift the center of gravity in society from hierarchical institutions to decentralized networks, to the multitude, leading to a more democratic society. But how can you help yourself now?

The examples of Linux and Wikipedia demonstrate that governments and large corporations, large vertical or hierarchical organizations, have lost their monopoly on the creation of value. Decentralized organizations, ad hoc groups of passionate individuals, can get together and produce very complex and valuable products, which can compete with the most powerful corporations. Think about this... a few crazy people contributing a few minutes per day can create something equivalent to Microsoft's Windows... Have you ever paused to think about this, how significant this is? Did you ever ask yourself how this is even possible?

There is no magic here. The secret is that the new technology offers us very powerful tools for communication, collaboration, and coordination, which work at the global scale. How many crazy computer geeks do you know who instead of watching the hockey game they sit in front of their computer and write code? I personally know only one and I consider myself lucky. There are a few in every city. But their total number throughout the entire planet is something very large. What happens is that this Internet and all the wonderful communication, collaboration and coordination tools we've built on it makes it possible for them to get together and do stuff. Without the Internet they can rarely meet with one another, let alone to collaborate. The new technology makes possible systems that rely on very, very scarce human resources. This is one important lesson.

Similar structures for the production of material goods and services are just starting to emerge. Models like the Discovery Network promise great economical advantages, with the benefits getting right into the hands of the people. Communication and collaboration tools play a crucial role in the design process of new products, coordination and logistical tools as well as the modern transportation technology become important for manufacturing and distribution. You have a good product idea? Why waiting for some big corporation to buy it from you for a handful of peanuts? Get on the Internet, start making contacts with the people you need, build a network, put your efforts together and build the product! Open yourself to collaboration, don't be afraid that someone will still you idea, count on speed not on secrecy/defense. The most important thing today is to be first to the market with a good product. Read more about Discovery Network.

One good example of production-distribution networks, or flat organizations profiting directly to small producers as well as to the consumer, is the food basket idea.

Individuals can also take advantage of the possibilities offered by the new technology by creating alternatives in the financial sector, and by profiting from these alternatives. Peer-to-peer lending creates wealth for the people, and all of it stays with the people. Search for examples on the Internet.

In the transportation area, new public transportation, as well as transportation of material goods models are emerging, where individuals can benefit form an aging and clogged infrastructure maintained by vertical organizations. You badly need some money ? Why don't you do Taxi for a day, or help a local farmer to transport his vegetables to the city.

These are just a few examples to get you started. Let's start thinking outside of the box! Instead of always looking for a job ask yourself if you can create your own. Look around, try to understand what people need and try to find a different way to address that need. Think of using the tools offered by the new technology. Build symbiotic relations with others, open yourself to the world, communicate, collaborate, coordinate... you have the tools. The opportunities today are endless. People need stuff, there is a need for an economy, the economical depression problem is not in us. The system who defines our daily transactions with the world is rotten. It doesn't allow individuals to exchange freely. The finance and the economy have been centralized, monopolized. We are at the mercy of this system and of those who control it. But there is a way out! Use your creativity to build alternatives to monopolistic institutions. Increase peer-to-peer transactions. It is possible today. Why not take advantage of it?

By AllOfUs