HOW!
When they say, "Things aint like they used to be," they really mean, THINGS AINT LIKE THEY USED TO BE. Unless of course, by "used to be" you mean "the Kansas City Royal are in last place," or "Ted Danson Rules," or "Tricky Dick Cheney is obsessively and dangerously secretive," or even, "Root Beer is the best soda pop ever." Ok, so some things ARE like they used to be. But this world of business that we live in, it sure aint like it used to be. Now, I understand that the phrase, "Things aint like they used to be," is usually used to mean something negative. But in the case of "business aint like it used to be," or more appropriately, "business can't operate like it used to," the phrase's intention mean good things for the rest of the world. Why?
I pulled the follow excerpt from the 800-CEO-READ blog. It's from a Thomas Friedman NYT article about Dov Siedman and his new book, "How: Why How We Do Everything Means Everything...in Business (and in Life).
When everyone has a blog, a MySpace page or Facebook entry, everyone is a publisher. When everyone has a cellphone with a camera in it, everyone is a paparazzo. When everyone can upload video on YouTube, everyone is filmmaker. When everyone is a publisher, paparazzo or filmmaker, everyone else is a public figure. We're all public figures now. The blogosphere has made the global discussion so much richer -- and each of us so much more transparent.
The implications of all this are the subject of a new book by Dov Seidman, founder and C.E.O. of LRN, a business ethics company. His book is simply called "How." Because Seidman's simple thesis is that in this transparent world "how" you live your life and "how" you conduct your business matters more than ever, because so many people can now see into what you do and tell so many other people about it on their own without any editor. To win now, he argues, you have to turn these new conditions to your advantage.
Let me summarize. If you and your company act irresponsibly, people will know. If you are a big fat jerk, people will hear about it. If you obsessively comb your hair, people are bound to see a video of it. The world is now more transparent than ever, so HOW you do things is ultimately what will separate you from the next guy - in victory or defeat.
Companies, from here on out, are much less likely to get a pass because they "get things done." Companies are now being force to "do it right." And wouldn't you know it, "The qualities that we once thought of as 'soft' - trust, integrity, values, and reputation - are now the hard currency of business success and the ultimate drivers of efficiency, productivity, and profitability."
It used to be that every once in a while the mainstream press would bust open a business scandal of one sort or another. That company would be damned, but most companies kept on business as usual, poorly treating employees while making unsound social and environmental decisions. The unions lost the ability to really stand up for people and the grass roots voices weren't enough to make changes. But now...oh boy...now people by the millions have platforms for their voices, and those voices are being heard. Companies that keep on "business as usual" simply won't be able to compete very long because customers are becoming way less willing to put up with crap. These well-informed and determined customers aren't just avoiding bad companies, they are telling the rest of the world about the bad companies.
So, if you want to keep on making poor decisions, whether that means unfair treatment of workers, potentially harmful products, misleading marketing, invasive advertising, systems that are environmentally hazardous, or however you choose to operate without integrity, go ahead. But don't be surprised when your company tanks, because in this day and age, Ted Danson still may rule, but companies that don't focus on "HOW" they do things is a company that won't be doing anything for much longer.
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