Comments on: A Company is the Sum of its People

By: James McNally

James McNally — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 16:06:12 +0000

Tara, you are right on target. I have so much to say that I can’t even begin to say it here, but I think most of our businesses are still in “factory” mode, expecting us to clock in and clock out as if we were assembling widgets instead of working with people and ideas.

From a work/life balance and even an environmental perspective, I think our corporations need to embrace new forms of work, including telecommuting, but as you and others have commented, most businesses don’t trust their employees.

I’m heading out for a lunch meeting today where I’m hoping to learn from someone wiser and bring this knowledge to bear on my work. But why do I feel guilty if the lunch goes longer than an hour? It’s ridiculous.

The same thing happened a few years ago when my company wouldn’t pay for me to attend the SXSW Interactive conference. My response? If you pay, I’m there to represent you and the company. If you don’t, I’m there strictly for my own benefit. As you can imagine, I’m no longer working for that company.

Thanks for posting about this!

By: Axel Schmiegelow

Axel Schmiegelow — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 14:16:57 +0000

Great blog entry Tara. And very true. I made similar mention in my blog here.

By: miss rogue

miss rogue — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 23:02:03 +0000

Very good example and point. Titles are so meaningless…so is rank…so extrinsic, yet, people cling to them. “Sorry, you can’t make a decision because I’m the boss.” (even though it is the best decision, it gets ousted because it wasn’t delivered by someone with a title).

Arg and double arg. It denotes that those with rank are to be trusted and those without are not.

By: miss rogue

miss rogue — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 22:58:43 +0000

It’s gonna take a whole lot of education, isn’t it? Have you read the Fifth Discipline? The systems thinking idea is so near and dear to my heart…

By: Alex Linsker

Alex Linsker — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 22:49:14 +0000

Trust is big, but a huge reason trust gets stepped on is from insecurity of someone “wanting to be in charge.”

The NextNY listserve recently had a thread on whether titles were necessary. Many self-proclaimed CEO’s of four-person startups said, “Of course titles aren’t necessary for CIO’s and CTO’s, but when I’m talking with someone outside my company, they need to see ‘CEO’ so they know to whom to give money.” Other CEO’s said, “I need to call myself CEO so people at my company know who’s in charge.”

This steps on the value of trust. It stops other folks at the company from raising money. It stops other folks at the company from working after 8:30pm because they don’t have a “superior” to keycard them in.

“Being in charge” can be through influence and setting positive examples, not through micromanaging and peacocking.

By: understanding customer engagement « Rolf Skyberg

understanding customer engagement « Rolf Skyberg — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 17:47:08 +0000

[...] inspired by Tara Hunt’s post on a company being the sum of its employees, I looked into the idea of a what a corporation actually is. It seems as though the word [...]

By: Jeff Barr’s Blog » Links for Friday, November 30, 2007

Jeff Barr’s Blog » Links for Friday, November 30, 2007 — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 19:38:36 +0000

[...] Tara Hunt: A Company is the Sum of its People – “It’s been pretty obvious to many people for a long time that sending your employees out into the world to build relationships with customers and potential customers is really good for your brand. D’uh.“ [...]

By: Born On The Web » Blog Archive » links for 2007-11-29

Born On The Web » Blog Archive » links for 2007-11-29 — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 00:35:19 +0000

[...] A Company is the Sum of its People | ::HorsePigCow:: marketing uncommon A Company is the Sum of its People, as always a nice write-up of Tara. (tags: socialcapital hr community) [...]

By: Chris Houchens

Chris Houchens — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 14:05:15 +0000

So true. I once was the head marketing person for a healthcare organization. When I would go out and represent the company at events (such as the 2 hour lunch — or breakfast), there would be some comments directed at me when I came back into the office similar to what you said.

Sometimes it’s the management and sometimes it’s the rank&file that have these opinions. It’s totally dependant upon the environment that THEY are most productive in. If management is giddy about spreadsheets and numbers, then they feel you should be too. If other workers are tied down in mundane tasks, then they feel you should be too.

The big problem in most companies is that no one understands the big picture of marketing except the marketing department. (and sometimes they don’t!)

By: miss rogue

miss rogue — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 03:38:42 +0000

That’s interesting…bridging capital within the organization…you are right, though. Some of the least aligned values are within organizations themselves…and bridging could go a long way in leading towards change.