"Got an idea that you think your managers are missing? Tell them? They don’t like it? Tell their bosses? They don’t like it? Tell the CEO. Stand on his or her desk if you have to – shout your reasoning, advocate for your customers, do what you have to do. Think you are gonna get fired?"<p>YES. In the vast majority of large corporations you will get fired before you even have the chance to get near the CEO's desk. Every single outspoken person I've known in large organizations has gotten laid off or canned outright. People who "take" leadership are seen as a threat to those who already have it and are eliminated.<p>The first or even second level managers don't even have a say. Unless your title is at least "director" you don't have a prayer in implementing any real change in the organization. The problem is, most directors are "yes men" who've risen through the ranks and are more interested in protecting their power than improving things.<p>Want to take leadership? Work for a smaller company where you might have more say, or start your own company like the author of the article apparently did.
1) Many corporate environments are built around a lack of trust. Generally this parades as "quality assurance" or "change management". There's certainly a place for QA and change management - the problem is that those processes often intervene -before- a change takes place. Beneficial change, however, is not always obvious prior to implementation. So say some plebe in app management has an idea for restructuring the UI of a particular sub-section, but it gets nixed because "The users won't understand" or "We'll have to retrain." A) This could be the change that would make life easier for the people who interact with that screen, they just didn't know it; B) Even if there's a mock-up, it's not the same as using the system. Now certainly there's a real cost to change, but most organizations are restrictive rather than permissive. This makes the "fight for change" really hard.<p>2) Bad corporate managers view ideas as a threat, if they didn't buy in. Say you have an idea that could alter your company for the better. If your manager rejects it and you push the issue, you better watch your back. (As a manager this is a hard impulse to overcome if you let yourself get 'sucked into' the corporate environment. Instead of being angry that someone "went around you", realize you missed a good idea (it's ok!) and try and figure out how to make it the best implementation possible.)<p>3) People are delusional. The linked post talks about people who think they have good ideas. In 'bitch and moan' sessions I've witnessed at conferences, eating with colleagues at lunch or whatever, I hear about how their great ideas are being ignored. Their ideas aren't great. They've come to be ignored because they're the Dwight Schrute of their office. So telling people to 'take leadership' is actually really bad advice.
Okay I really like the message that is being sent in this article.<p>But whether it works really depends on the company culture. You gotta remember that for each individual employee, his/her incentive is NOT to do what benefits the company the most. His/her incentive is to do what benefits HIMSELF/HERSELF the most. So it is up to the company to create a culture where doing what benefits the company the most also benefits the individual the most.<p>For many many companies this is not the case. Due to internal politics or the ego of managers, it is often to the benefit of the individual employee to shut up and do the stupid thing. GIGO you know. Why should I speak up and make the company $100 million dollars, if it means my manager will get mad at me and my raise goes down by 1%?
I think this is more of a leadership problem than anything else.<p>I think one of the goals of a leader is to create an environment in which people feel good about bringing their ideas to the forefront. They shouldn't be punished for being outspoken.<p>I agree with coglehtorpe that in many large organizations such a person would get fired.<p>I think employees can speak up but before they do they should assess the situation.<p>I don't know if your chances are better in general in a small company. I have been in small organizations where the CEO is a bully and don't really care for much feedback.<p>The trick is to work for an organization large or small whose culture favors such a behavior for e.g. GE under Welch or some of today's great companies when they were small etc.<p>What I can say from experience though is that a company that favors employees to speak and one that values their opinion is a superior company.
A self-appointed CEO / Janitor's perspective is going to be very different from pretty much everyone else in the workforce. Many leaders in middle-management literally got "'ass-kicking-certification plaques' at [their] doorstep[s]..." in the form of an acceptance letter to business school. As coglethorpe said, doing end runs around your superiors <i>will</i> get you fired.<p>This guy's cool and all, but he's on a plane that does only intersects with corporate America at the talent pool of sheepish employees.
I remember reading in a book by Tom Peters that Toyota has a suggestion box system they take seriously. Like, they implemented 6,000 employee suggestions a year at one point.