太听话的员工拯救不了美国经济

    他听完我的话，递给我一个古怪的眼神，可能在想这是不是一个恶作剧。但随后我们进行了相当坦诚的讨论，只有我们两个人。

    当我们关注经济问题时，当一些老板开始反思并考虑改变他们的行为方式时，我们还需要观察当今世界的状况。我们知道，不论是公司、政府机构，抑或是传统的教育、社会或者宗教组织，这些机构并不能解决我们面临的问题。我们对这些机构的效能已经不再持以往的观点。但我们也不该感到无助。现在，公司和其他机构的力量比他们包含的各部分加总起来要弱一些。换句话说，公司内部人士的能量、能力和技术远比公司所展示出来的要强。有鉴于此，我们必须停止向其他个体（和我们自己）灌输思想，自我设限，画地为牢。

    如果公司员工认为自己不需要身边的组织结构，他们可能会更难控制。但如果我们不再需要以那种方式去控制他人，我们也许能发现新的可能性：老板不会再感到孤立无援；人们会认识到自身的力量也能够推动国家经济发展；员工会意识到恶劣老板的所想所为可能在短期内有影响，但其实到头来并不重要。

    Eleanor Bloxham是价值联盟公司和公司治理联盟（http://thevaluealliance.com）的首席执行官。公司治理联盟是一家董事会咨询公司。

    译者：李玫晓/汪皓

    Yes, I got a quizzical look in return and he was probably wondering if it was a trick. But we then proceeded to have a frank discussion. Two people on a journey, nothing more, nothing less.

    While we address the economy -- and while some bosses start to look in the mirror and consider changing how they behave, we also need to see what the world has been showing us lately. We know our institutions -- whether they are corporations, government agencies, or even traditional educational, social, or religious organizations -- don't seem up to tackling the problems we face. Our view of their efficacy has changed. But that shouldn't make us feel weak. Corporations and other institutions today just happen to be smaller than the sum of their parts. Or, put another way, the power, ability, and skills of the individuals inside our corporations far exceed the capabilities that corporations are demonstrating. For that reason, we need to stop stuffing individuals (and ourselves) mentally into spaces that are too small to contain us.

    If people who work for companies do not believe they require the structure that surrounds them, they may be harder to control. But in giving up the need to control others in that way, we may discover new possibilities: corporations where bosses won't feel so lonely, individuals who recognize their power to get the national economy moving, and employees who know that what bad bosses think and how they act may have short-term consequences but don't really matter in the end.

    Eleanor Bloxham is CEO of The Value Alliance and Corporate Governance Alliance (http://thevaluealliance.com/), a board advisory firm.