"Rebuilding Companies as Communities" by Henry Mintzberg

I was recently reading Henry Mintzberg's latest article in HBR titled "Rebuilding Companies as Communities". It is such a powerful article, especially for our current economic situation.

He speaks about the damaging effects of "the depreciation in companies of community". When there is not a sense of community in organizations, individuals are acting out of self interest instead of focusing on developing the productivity of their organization as a whole. The employees do not feel bound to each other or to their organization. Without community, employees are not working together towards a common goal, they are only working on their own personal goals, whether that may be increasing their own bonus, being promoted, etc. How can organizations ever become more productive and develop as a whole this way? They can't. And Mintzberg believes this is at the heart of the economic downturn.

Mintzberg also speaks about leadership and how it has become perceived as something separate and superior to management. He says "this view only isolates the people in leadership positions, thereby undermining a sense of community in organizations." He believes leadership and communityship go hand-in-hand. "A community leader is personally engaged in order to engage others, so that anyone and everyone can exercise initiative."

He also talks about several programs he has created with colleagues for developing managers in order to help them develop their organizations. These include IMPM, IMHL, ALP, and CoachingOurselves. These programs have taught him that creating small groups of committed managers help trigger the spread of initiatives around the organization, thereby strengthening its sense of community.

Mintzberg concludes by restating that organizations need to understand that they must develop and strengthen community within their organizations in order to create "a healthy society [that] balances leadership, communityship, and citizenship".