The WorldBlu Blog

DreamHost, California-based WorldBlu List of Most Democratic Workplaces 2008 awardee was recently featured by the media outlet Axiom News (also a WorldBlu List awardee) in a three-part series of articles giving an inside look at how DreamHost operates democratically.

I invite you to check out the series below:

E-meetings engage all DreamHost employees in corporate decision-making

DreamHost’s unique profit-sharing system results in high morale, strong retention

Flat management structure promotes productivity, retention at DreamHost

DreamHost’s Founder and CEO, Dallas Kashuba will also be speaking at WorldBlu LIVE in New York City this Oct. 16-17, 2008.

Register now and join us!

With a growing hub in conscious capitalism, social entrepreneurship and all things “blu,” WorldBlu has decided to relocate to Austin, Texas!

We strongly believe our move here will more closely align us with other individuals and companies working towards goals that are akin to organizational democracy.

Plus, Austin is just a dang cool city to live in. ☺

To kick off our relocation efforts and help us get in the swing of life here, WorldBlu has been nominated to present at the world-famous South by Southwest Festival happening March 13-17, 2009 here in Austin!

For those of you who may not know, in addition to dozens of musical acts and movies, SXSW also has South by Southwest Interactive Festival, which brings in leading thinkers from a diversity of disciplines to share cutting-edge ideas.

We’ve been nominated to speak SXSW ’09, so we invite you to help out by VOTING FOR US so we can share our message and ideas with the world in a session entitled, “Democracy, Design, and the Future of Work.”

Voting closes at 11:59 pm Central Standard Time on Friday, August 29th so in encourage you to vote now.

To vote, rate our submission or add a comment, here’s what you do:

1. Click here.

2. Sign-in (It takes 1 min, very easy).

3. Once signed in, click on the right link where it says Business/Entrepreneurial.

4. Search for WorldBlu.

5. Cast your vote!

I’ve had the opportunity to share the message of WorldBlu, organizational democracy and freedom-centered leadership with people from over 100 different countries in the past two years alone, at venues ranging from Yahoo! to Harvard University to the CIA to Fox Interactive. It would be really cool to get to speak at SXSW too!

Thanks so much and let us know if you plan to attend SXSW 2009 or if you’re coming to Austin – we’d love to see you!

Recently the Workplace Democracy Association, together with Zogby International, conducted a survey of nearly 2,500 workers to find that one in four, or 25 percent, believe they work in a dictatorship rather than in a democratic workplace.

The survey also revealed that, “Adopting democratic processes can have a significant impact on employee morale and thus improve their levels of productivity and creativity: 80% of workers said they work better when they are given the freedom to decide how to best do their job.”

You can read about other findings from the survey by clicking here.

I love the results of this survey and commend the Workplace Democracy Association for this important research.

Asher Adelman, Founder and President of the Workplace Democracy Association and I were interviewed this week about democracy in the workplace on the radio show, “Everyday Leadership,” hosted by Dan Mulhern, the First Gentleman of Michigan.

Dan asked if I found the fact that that one in four Americans believe they work in a dictatorship surprising. I said not at all, especically since the Gallup Organization consistently reports that nearly three-fourths (73 percent) of the US workforce is disengaged at work.

People are clearly checking out of the traditional, command-and-control model of business.

As the survey reports, 80 percent of American workers want more freedom at work.

You can listen to the interview I did with Dan on this topic or download the podcast on iTunes.

Enjoy!

Brian Johnson was the Founder and CEO of Zaadz, a WorldBlu List 2007 awardee and the first website in the world committed to creating a community around conscious capitalism. Last summer, Zaadz was sold to Gaiam and its’ name changed from Zaadz to Gaia Community. Brian then went on to start Philosophers Notes.

I had the opportunity to meet Brian and other members of the Zaadz team last spring when I was in San Francisco. Brian and I became fast friends and he has continued to be a source of inspiration to me. I thought you might enjoy hearing what this democratic CEO is up to now. . .
What inspired you to launch PhilosophersNotes?

I’ve always been passionate about understanding what makes great people great—that .0000001% who really go out there and give themselves to the world. After studying Psychology at UCLA, working as a consultant at Arthur Andersen, dropping out of law school and building and selling my first business, eteamz, (as 24-year-old dot com boomer of ’99), I fell in love with the idea of a “philosopher” (simply “lover of wisdom” in Greek) and read as many books on philosophy, psychology, mysticism and optimal living as I could.

After a few years as a philosopher, I felt called to create Zaadz.com (think: MySpace for people who want to change the world). After selling Zaadz to Gaiam last summer, I decided I wanted to give myself my own Ph.D. in Optimal Living and I’d give myself a Masters when I’d distilled the wisdom from 100 of my favorite books.

Then, earlier this year on a flight from Tokyo to LA, I opened SkyMall to an ad for a company doing summaries of business books for business executives and had one of those “Hallelujah!!” moments and realized someone should do summaries for self-development books… and that someone should be me.

Combine that with a deep sense of knowing just how busy people are and how little time we often have to really tap into the wisdom we know could improve our lives, and, here we are. . .

What role does self-knowledge play in being a successful business person?

I think it plays a huge role. I can’t think of anything more important than knowing who we are and knowing how to bring our highest selves to the world.

You were the Founder and CEO of a democratic company called Zaadz which was also on the WorldBlu list of Most Democratic Workplaces 2007. How do you think what you’re doing now is relevant to democratic leaders and people working in democratic companies?

When I was running Zaadz one of the first things that seemed to go was my leisurely reading time. I realize how busy we can get as we passionately give ourselves to our work and our lives and I hope that the 6-page PDF and 20-minute MP3 PhilosophersNotes will give us a quick and easy way to consistently tap into the wisdom of the greatest teachers as we to create their ideal lives!

What is your vision for Philosophers Notes?

We’re excited to have 1,000 titles and to serve one million “philosophers” (a.k.a., subscribers) in the next two years. I’m also excited about creating relationships with major corporations and non-profits and getting the Notes into the prison system and other places of need. And I can see PhilosophersNotes offline in places like Barnes & Noble and Whole Foods.

Can you give us a personal example of how you’ve worked with ideas from one of the books and how it impacted your leadership style as a democratic leader?

The one thing I’ve noticed about all these great books and teachers is that they pretty much all say the same thing—to show up authentically, fearlessly and with an open heart as we strive to give ourselves most fully to the world.

So, it’s hard to pin down one particular lesson as I find myself being inspired by a Big Idea from this book or that book and then having fun finding ways to integrate the idea or practice into my life. And THAT approach is totally transforming every aspect of my life—in my business, relationships, health, everything!

What else are you thinking about these days?

How to train our little puppy!!

Thanks so much Brian!

I also want to thank YOU for your vision and inspiration. Keep up the awesome work!!

I encourage you to sign up for PDF and MP3 samples and consider subscribing to Philosophers Notes as well. It’s a fantastic and easy tool for all committed to freedom-centered leadership and organizational democracy.

Greetings all! I’ve been doing a ton of travel recently and wanted to share some of the cool stuff, cool people and very cool democratic ideas I’ve encountered as of late.

First, Cool People:

Recently Bill Taylor, founding editor of Fast Company magazine was here in Atlanta to give a speech at the Maximum Impact conference which was broadcast to people in 400 cities around the world. Bill is a member of the WorldBlu Global Advisory Group, will be speaking at WorldBlu LIVE 2008 and is a good friend, so it was very fun to get to him talk about why the future of business is all about originality, freedom and authenticity. If you haven’t read the bestselling book he co-authored (with Polly LaBarre) called Mavericks at Work, you need to check it out. And come here Bill speak at WorldBlu LIVE in NYC this Oct. 16-17th!

Second cool people interaction – I was just in Austin, Texas, and got to meet one of the key people who has inspired my work – John Mackey, Founder and CEO of Whole Foods. The reason I got to meet Mackey is because I am a part of a group of five female entrepreneurs called The Billionaire Girls Club. The idea behind the B-Girls (which was inspired by my good friend Jon Bischke, CEO of EduFire and the founder of the Billionaire Boys and Girls Club of LA) is not so much about money as it is a METAPHOR for big ideas, big dreams and making a big difference in the world.

So the B-Girls met in Austin with several cool folks including Mackey who carved out two hours to meet with the five of us to share this story of trials and triumphs, what motivates the democratic operating philosophy behind Whole Foods – LOVE! – and how to grow your business while embracing the principles of conscious capitalism.

Mackey has recently started a very cool non-profit called FLOW. I’ve interacted with FLOW and their great team and they’re doing really fantastic work. Check them out!

As you can imagine meeting Mackey was very cool for the B-Girls. Here’s the picture of all of us! (L-R: Ingrid Vanderveldt, CEO of Club E Network and host of “American Made” on CNBC, Carrie Silver, CEO of Girls with Dreams, Sarah Endline, CEO of sweetriot, John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods, yours truly and Nicole Casanova, CEO of Shift The Game.)

And Now, Cool Happenings:

Later this month I’m off to speak at the Reboot conference happening June 26-27th in Copenhagen, Denmark. Thomas Madsen-Mygdal, a whiz entrepreneur who spoke at WorldBlu LIVE 2005 is the founder of the event with a theme this year of “Free.” Hmmmm. . . Can you guess what I’ll be speaking about?

Later this summer I’m also speaking at the North American EO conference (former YEO, Young Entrepreneurs Organization) in Boston happening July 24-26th. If you’re in the area come on by!

Last Up - Cool Democratic Ideas:

So many fun ideas come my way that I can hardly keep up! Thanks to all of you who send them to me (you know who you are!). Let me share a few of those ideas with you here:

The Mistake Bank

The Mistake Bank is the result of consultant and blogger John Caddell’s vision to have a place where people can talk constructively about their mistakes at work in an effort to help others. Talk about radical transparency! Check out the Mistake Bank and join the network here.

OpenTeams.com

Open Teams is a very cool online platform that allows companies to function more democratically. It got to meet founder and CEO Tory Gattis while I was in Austin. Great guy and a great tool, check it out here.

My Football Club

Yes, we’re seeing the democratization of everything these days — including sports! If you haven’t heard about it yet, check out myfootballclub.co.uk which was started by Will Brooks. (Thanks Greg Scott for letting me know about this!) Portfolio magazine has a great article about Brooks’ vision entitled, “User Generated Soccer.” His isn’t the only democratic sports model out there. Learn about others by clicking here.

Beyond Borders

What I love about the democratic organizations on the WorldBlu List of Most Democratic Workplaces is that not only do they operate democratically they’re ALSO going beyond the organizational boundary to make the world a better place. Enter Beyond Borders, a two-time WorldBlu List awardee working to make a positive social impact in Haiti. If you’re like me and want to help change the world for the better, I invite you to watch this short YouTube video about their important work.

Calling all Ricardo Semler Fans!

If you’re a fan of Ricardo Semler’s work like I am, I always love to know about videos and clips where I can learn more about his company called Semco, an incredible model of organizational democracy located in Sao Paulo, Brazil. I recently found out about a talk he gave at MIT, which you can watch by clicking here.

The Democratization of Design

For those of you, who care about design and the larger trends in consumer democratization, check out the article entitled, “Secretary to the Mob” on metropolismag.com.

The Democratization of Media + Films + The Pen

There are so many great examples out there but here are a few more for you to know about — Our Stage (democratizing movies and music), Divine Caroline (everybody can be a somebody and have a voice) and Ground Report (citizen journalism). Via la power to the people!

Bring More Democracy to Your Workplace

We all know that democracy is only as good as the quality of our conversations, so why not work to improve the conversations you’re having? Over a year ago I learned about Will Bowen and his campaign to stop complaining in the world. His book on the topic is entitled, A Complaint-Free World: How to Stop Complaining and Start Enjoying the Life You Always Wanted.

I didn’t think I complained much before, but I decided to take the 21-day challenge and it’s made a huge impact on the quality of my conversations – and my life! So much so that I’ve continued the commitment for over a year now. I’m not perfect yet but I enjoy the overall discipline and the challenge.

I invite you to consider this simply exercise for yourself – no complaining, criticizing, gossiping or using sarcasm — and just watch how it elevates the quality of interactions you have with people. I think it’s a great and simply way to bring more meaningful conversations to the workplace and your life!

So that’s the latest — let me know what you think or if you know of any great ideas I should share!

I’m so pleased to share with you that today I have an opinion piece in the Christian Science Monitor newspaper entitled, “Even big companies are embracing a democratic style.”

There is also a seven-minute audio interview that I did with the Monitor’s opinion page editor, Josh Burek. You can listen to the interview by clicking here.

The piece appears in both print and online form, reaching an audience of over five million people worldwide.

People usually think that only small or mid-size firms can operate democratically. So for years now, I’ve wanted to write a piece about how large, Fortune 500 companies can run democratically as well. The opportunity finally presented itself when the first Fortune 500 company, DaVita, made this year’s WorldBlu List of Most Democratic Workplaces 2008.

In the piece, I explain how DaVita, the largest dialysis provider in the US with 30,000 employees and over $5 billion in sales, made a remarkable turnaround when it embraced a democratic style. As I state in the op-ed, the impact to the bottom line was huge:

“As a result [of embracing a democratic style], DaVita dramatically reduced its turnover rate, stimulated organic growth above the industry average, and became the industry leader. Net operating revenue grew from $1.45 billion in 1999 to $5.26 billion in 2007. And over the past five years, DaVita’s stock has soared 279 percent, while the S&P 500 Index has returned 52 percent.”

I also raise this question –

Do big businesses have a responsibility to be organized democratically because of the power they wield?

I think they do and I hope my op-ed further awakens business leaders to the power, potential and responsibility they have to embrace a democratic management style.

I hope you enjoy the piece – let me know what you think!

I’m very happy to share that US News & World Report, which reaches 13 million people online each month, is the first major media news outlet to write about this year’s WorldBlu List of Most Democratic Workplaces 2008.

They’ve written four stories — one about the concept of organizational democracy, one a Q&A with me and then two profiles of WorldBlu List companies Equal Exchange and Linden Lab, makers of Second Life.

Both Equal Exchange and Linden Lab have sustained their place on the WorldBlu List for a second year in a row.

You can check out the stories below:

Why Workplace Democracy Can Be Good Business

Democracy in Action at Linden Labs

Equal Exchange Serves Up a Cup of Cooperation

Q & A: WorldBlu’s Fenton on Workplace Democracy

We’ll keep you updated as more press coverage happens in the coming weeks and months ahead!

Today, Democracy in the Workplace Day, we’re thrilled to announce the second annual WorldBlu List of Most Democratic Workplaces!

This year’s list is comprised of 25 various organizations including for-profit and non-profit organizations from the US, Canada, the Netherlands and Malaysia from industries such as technology, healthcare, telecommunications, media, manufacturing and retail, representing nearly $8 billion in combined annual sales.

Below are a few highlights of WorldBlu List companies and what makes them democratic:

DaVita Inc.®, located in El Segundo, California, is the first FORTUNE 500® company and first healthcare company to make the WorldBlu List of Most Democratic Workplaces. It is the largest independent provider of dialysis services in the US, with over 1,300 clinics and 30,000 employees.

DaVita practices organizational democracy through regular “Town Hall” meetings and at its quarterly “DaVita Voice of the Village” meetings where “teammates” can ask any question to the CEO and senior leadership. Also, each year the company’s CEO and COO share their successes and failures in front of more than 2,000 teammate leaders. Teammates are also regularly asked to vote on various new practices and all of the 1,300 individual clinics are empowered to develop their own set of rules and guidelines, decentralizing power by allowing each clinic to be its own boss.

Equal Exchange, located in West Bridgewater, Massachusetts, is owned and governed by their employees on a one-person/one-share/one-vote basis, without regard to seniority or rank. Employee-owners also elect the Board of Directors and hold six of the nine seats.

Dreamhost, headquartered in Los Angeles, is a web hosting company where they use email discussion lists almost exclusively to make critical business decisions, practicing full transparency so that every voice is heard and decisions are made with everyone’s best interests in mind.

The Grammy® Award-winning Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, based in New York City, is completely conductorless, rotating leadership amongst orchestra members.

At Great Harvest Bread Company, headquartered in Dillon, Montana, they have designed their franchise model with more than 200 stores across the US using a “freedom franchise” approach, a method they developed in to order to nurture creativity, excellence and a true sense of ownership.

At Pandora, an Oakland, California-based personalized online radio service with more than twelve million listeners, they decentralize leadership, empowering all employees to make decisions with the fewest people necessary.

At Innovation Partners International in Portland, Maine they pride themselves on rotating all leadership roles on a regular basis, from president to CFO.

King Arthur Flour in Norwich, Vermont and sweetriot, based in New York City, practice employee-ownership and open-book management, respectively, common practices in most democratic workplaces.

At San Francisco-based Linden Lab, makers of the highly successful Second Life® online virtual world, key company data is openly shared in real-time on flat-screen TVs and employees are encouraged to choose their own work based on company objectives. Their “A and Os,” or Achievement and Objectives platform, is a weekly self-reporting tool where each employee shares with the company via email what they will work on that week and what they accomplished the previous week. Their “Distributor” tool is a points system where employees pledge on projects they believe will be of the greatest benefit to the company or to people who deserve them. Employees can show appreciation for one another by “sending love” through their “Love Machine” software application.

Here’s what some of the CEOs had to say about making the WorldBlu List 2008 and why they believe in organizational democracy:

Dallas Kashuba, CEO of Dreamhost:
A democratic workplace is simply more effective. When everyone has a chance to be a part of the decision-making process, the decisions made are more universally accepted. We can spend less time managing and more time doing what we do best. Open lines of communication within the organization also lead directly to better communication with the customer.

Dave Balter, founder and CEO BzzAgent:
Openness and transparency are not only hallmarks of democracy, they are also bellwethers for successful businesses. Today’s consumer has countless opportunities to voice his opinions about brands and companies. Shouldn’t employees have that same right?

Brian Scudemore, Founder and CEO, 1-800-GOT-JUNK?
Creating the world’s largest junk removal service is completely in alignment with being recognized as one of the world’s most democratic places to work. We know that our steady growth and customer satisfaction relies on our ability to carry out these democratic processes.

Philip Rosedale, CEO, Linden Lab (makers of Second Life):
In order to meet the unique challenges we face as the creators of the virtual world of Second Life, we strongly believe in the wisdom of the crowds because, often times, our issues are larger than any one person can solve on their own. We truly believe that distributing the decision-making makes us a stronger, more agile enterprise.

Chris Mann, CEO of Guayaki:
At Guayakí we are pioneering a new business model that demands creative solutions. We find that through democratic practices we all bring our whole selves to the process and that elevates the quality of our decisions.

Tim Westergren, Founder and Chief Strategy Officer, Pandora
There’s nothing more potent than a talented, motivated employee who feels respected and empowered by their company. They are happier and more effective, plain and simple. That’s what a democratic workplace means to us.

Ann Price, Founder and CEO, Motek
Motek’s strong culture enables us to attract and retain incredible people. It’s an incredibly fierce advantage.

I’m always asked if I see any themes amongst democratic workplaces. All of them have built a healthy and robust democratic organization because they’ve operationalized the 10 principles essential to organizational democracy. Beyond that, however, there are few shared best practices and common themes. Here are few I’ve noticed:

• They practice open-book management.
• They think and treat employees like entrepreneurs or intra-preneurs rather than employees.
• Many have developed a kind of free market system within the organization.
• Employees are rewarded based on merit, not titles.
• There is an open-source mindset and the “wisdom of crowds” rather than “groupthink” is recognized as a strength.

You can learn much more about WorldBlu List organizations and the way they use democracy as a key to their competitive advantage at WorldBlu LIVE happening this October 16-17, 2008 in New York City. Click here to register now.

I’ve absolutely loved getting to know this year’s awardees and I hope you do too. Enjoy and help us spread the good news!

Today we officially announced the opening of registration for WorldBlu LIVE 2008, which will be held in New York City, October 16-17, 2008!

Our last WorldBlu LIVE conference was in October 2005 and it was a huge success. The quality of both the speakers and the participants was amazing. People came from as far away as China and Iraq to learn about how to build a democratic workplace. Speakers included Bill Taylor, co-founding editor of Fast Company magazine, Dan Pink, author of A Whole New Mind, Rita Bailey, former Southwest Airlines University’s Director of People, Mike Ferretti, CEO of Great Harvest Bread Company and more.

I believe this year’s WorldBlu LIVE will be the best one yet because for the first time the majority of the speakers will be the CEOs of companies that are on the WorldBlu List of Most Democratic Workplaces. (We will announce this year’s list on Thursday, April 24th so stay tuned!). Participants will get to hear first-hand how you design, build, and sustain a democratic workplace.

We have also partnered with WorldBlu List awardee the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra so that the opening night of WorldBlu Live – Thursday, October 16th — all conference attendees will have the opportunity to see them perform live at Carnegie Hall. Orpheus has been around for 30+ years and is a conductorless and democratic Grammy award-winning orchestra based in NYC. I’ve seen Orpheus perform in NYC and DC and had the privilege of sitting in on one of their rehearsals out in Napa Valley a little over a year ago. It is amazing to watch them work together — without a conductor — to produce their music.

The reason we partnered with Orpheus this year was that we wanted people to have the opportunity to experience organizational democracy for themselves (if they don’t work in a democratic workplace already).

As many of us know, so much is shifting in the business and global landscape these days. It’s a privilege to watch these world-class democratic organizations fearlessly chart a NEW path – one that is about honoring and valuing the potential that is in all of us.

To that end, I hope you’ll be able to join me and the other extraordinary thought-leaders, social entrepreneurs, change agents, business leaders and mavericks who will be at WorldBlu LIVE this fall.

See you October 16-17th!

Recently, I had my first trip to the beautiful coast of Alabama for a speech I was giving there for the Eastern Shore Chamber of Commerce. I have never been to Alabama and was looking forward to seeing a bit of it, staying at the beautiful Grand Hotel Marriott Resort (a place you should definitely check out if you’re looking for a lovely Southern experience!) and being near the ocean (the place that inspires our name, WorldBlu).

But beyond the environs, I was really looking forward to meeting Egil “Bud” Krogh, a man I had heard about for quite some time. Bud and I would both be giving keynote addresses at the event, however, the prospect of sharing the stage with such a great thinker was a bit daunting to me.

For those of you who are not familiar with Bud’s name, he was one of the original White House “plumbers” and a right-hand man to former President Richard Nixon. Bud was only in his early thirties when he became inextricably linked to what would become the Watergate scandal and later Nixon’s resignation. However, unlike the President and his peers at the time, Bud took full ownership for his responsibilities and plead “guilty.” As a result, he spent nearly five months in prison.

Bud has recently penned a book entitled, Integrity: Good People, Bad Choices and Life Lessons From the White House, which chronicles the events that lead to the breakdown of integrity during his days at the White House.

Bud wrote an op-ed to President George W. Bush about integrity in the White House shortly after he took office. The piece was entitled, “Memo to Bush White House Staff”, and was published in the Christian Science Monitor newspaper on February 12, 2001. In it, he pointed out two fundamental questions to make sure those in the White House (and beyond) are acting from integrity.

Those two questions are:

1. Is the choice whole and complete? (In other words, is what you are designing fully capable of accomplishing its purpose or have any critical items been left out?)

2. Is it right?

It’s been over 30 years since the series of events that lead to Watergate, but the lessons Bud shares still ring true.

I had the opportunity to meet Bud the day before our speeches, first at an informal gathering and then later at a dinner event. I loved listening to his stories and his clarity around the issue of integrity and its impact on our world today. As you can see from the picture, the man oozes with integrity and compassion. He has the presence of one who has been through the fire – and redeemed.

Bud spoke after I did, and one of the highlights for me was when he said, “Had we practiced organizational democracy as Traci has described I never would have gone to jail and there never would have been a Watergate.” Wow.

The comment resonated with me at a deep level as I think about the power of these ideas and their potential impact on the betterment of society. To be sure, “integrity” is one of the 10 principles of organizational democracy.

I invite you to check out Bud’s book and the tools he’s developed to help people and organizations make integrity-based decisions. His is an amazing and inspiring story. I encourage you to take the opportunity to learn from this living legend.

I promise you won’t be disappointed.