Too Divided to Progress?

Over the past couple of weeks I have had some time to listen and watch a greater quantity of news out of the United States.  It is not as if we do not already get an enormous amount of US news in our normal Australian news sources but my recent exposure has included blasts of CNN, ABC, CBS and MSNBC that would make you wither.  I recall a few times when I told family and friends I can instantly quash any pangs of homesickness simply by turning on Fox News.   The health care debate has been raging in the United States the past few weeks.  On the back of the pain and uncertainty of the global financial crisis the debate over health care has been for me a scary experience to witness.  For a moment I digress but I recall some Australian commentators expressing amazement at John McCain’s campaign criticism of Obama’s implied desire to ’spread the wealth.’  Obama was being attacked as if this was a mortal sin.  For those of us who have lived or traveled in the US a bit of wealth spreading would be a darn good thing.  The disparity of wealth is amazing and salaries in the multi-millions are hardly noteworthy.  Australia has also increased wealth disparity but at least has  a social safety net to maintain some cohesion (and civility).  Anyway in a roundabout way I am getting to my point.  My point is I have a sinking feeling that the United States is now such a divided society that true progress is now almost impossible.  I get the sense that the spirit of ‘ we are Americans first’ no longer applies.  I sense that there is not much sense of the common good; ‘what is good for my brother and sister is good for me.’  I grew up feeling that even though things in my country (back then the US) were not perfect we could always improve by working together and pulling as one.  Sadly I see the past two or three decades of greed and divisive politics of fear have eroded common principles.  Am a pessimistic?  Yep- afraid so.  I cannot fathom a society that can so easily accept wide disparities of health and education services simply based on how much damn money you make.

Corporate Reality in the Trenches

Today has prompted me to have a rant about organisational behaviour and in particular corporate behaviour.  This observation is not limited to large organisations although the pathology I outline here is far more common in larger organisations.  There is one level of corporate behaviour that we read about in places like the Australian Financial Review or the Wall Street Journal. This is wear the slick looking folks wearing suits and wearing the rectangle fashion eyeware play the business game in our society that worship business.  This is all fine for those that want to play the game.  In the trenches where the lengthy chain of command finally touches a customer is what I call the trenches.  This is where we see what real corporate behaviour is like when it is expressed in a relationship with a customer.  The folks in the tall glass box might get some figures but never can figures illustrate behaviour and effectiveness in customer dealings.  Today I had an experience with a major telco that I never imagined could occur in the day and age.  I had an experience that if  I had a chance to convey by word or print would be considered fiction.  This telco has ‘invested’ millions in new systems, processes, fancy brochures and websites.  I am sure this company would also claim to conduct training for those with customer interaction.  The problem is the people were nice but the execution was pathetic.  There was no acountability, no escalation, no empowerment to make a decision.  This was a scene out of the 1980’s  and maybe early 90’s.  For goodness sakes most firms have evolved but this one is stuck.  If I were a suit in the tall glass box I would never know what is happening in the ‘trenches.’   If this is the result of our business obsessed, business school idolising,  spend massive bucks on consultants ethos then we have little to cheer about.