Freedom, Inc.

August 10, 2009
The key to a successful business is affording your employees more breathing room, claim journalist Carney and management professor Getz. Using examples of worker-centric companies countrywide, they make the case that the more freedom employees are given, the more rewards the company will reap. Starting with the history of workplaces—Thomas Jefferson's theories figure prominently—and a plethora of stories of such successful companies as FAVI, USAA, Vertex and Harley, the authors concentrate heavily on the importance of running a “why” company—making sure employees know why they're doing what they're doing—rather than a “how” company, in which employers instruct their employees on how to do their jobs. Much space is given to the art of listening to employees, building an environment that allows them to grow and self-direct, breaking away from hierarchical and bureaucratic corporate structure, treating workers as equals and motivating them to self-motivation. Worthy prescriptions all, but without the backing of wide-reaching data or larger vision, repetition replaces argument—and the whole suffers.