Not a Revolution, but a Natural Evolution

Revolutions take on many forms. Some were violent, others not. The American Revolution (1775-1783) was bloody, whereas the French-Canadian Quiet Revolution (1960-1970) was a cultural shift without any bloodshed (unless the October Crisis gets counted in).

In the workplace, revolutions can also occur in both forms. Looking at the following headline: "It's okay to lock up your boss, says nearly half of France", the following question begs to be asked: Why does a Democratic People find it ok to use such extreme measures when firms are laying off workers? (the cartoon says: I am training just in case I get held up in the office by unhappy workers".

Ok. So why are workers so angry they will go to the extreme of kidnapping an executive? Granted, the five recent kidnappings each ended with the safe release of the hostage. According to Antoine Lyon-Caen, a professor of comparative labour law at the University of Paris-Nanterre, "The traditional way of holding a strike is to occupy the workplace, showing that 'it's our company, too" (thespec.com). It strikes me when I read about workers who want to be legitimized in their feelings that the organization is also "theirs". What should we make of this? Do workers indeed partly own the enterprise where they work? What if what they mean to say was, "We spend a significant part of our lives investing energy, sweat, passion, emotions, and so much more for this organization, we want to be heard and considered"!. What if what this really boils down to was, "Listen to us"!.

Dynamic Governance is not a revolution. I like to think of it as Natural Evolution.
It is natural in the sense that it grows above the systems already in place. Implementing DG does not require an organizational revolution. It does not require lay-offs, restructuring, or countless and never-ending consultant support. Dynamic Governance simply emerges when the leadership of an organization decides the time has come to do things better for the collective of the enterprise (and of course, that includes the enterprise itself).

A basic human need is the striving to belong. As infants, we begin a lifelong process of attachment that will never end (for fantastic work and perspectives on this, consult Dr. Gordon Neufeld's web site). This need to belong does not evaporate as we pass the doors of a factory, marketplace, university, or any other work setting for the matter. Just like children will be committed to their parents when a strong attachment exists, lovers will be committed when a strong bond is in place. The same is true for employees who will likely feel more committed to their employer when a positive relationship is in place. Of course I could now get into what defines a good relationship, but I will leave it to the readers to think about it... Suffice it to say that the people we feel most attached to, we seldom kidnap as an attempt to resolve arising issues!