The WorldBlu Blog

I first heard about Zaadz through Jeff Klein, executive director of FLOW, an organization committed to “conscious capitalism.” Since Zaadz was also dedicated to the idea of conscious capitalism I was intrigued to see if they might also operate democratically (since the two concepts are closely linked). They decided to apply for the WorldBlu List 2007 and indeed made the cut!

Zaadz is an online social networking platform “committed to inspiring and empowering people to live at their highest potential by using their greatest strengths in the greatest service to the world” and they are having a great 2007.

In addition to being named a WorldBlu Most Democratic Workplace (and really, what could be better than that?!) they recently announced that John Mackey, Founder and CEO of Whole Foods has become an investor in the company.

On Wednesday, Zaadz’s founder Brian Johnson appeared on MSNBC’s “The Most” to talk about Mackey’s recent investment. You can view the clip by clicking here.

We asked Brian why they operate Zaadz democratically and here’s what he told us:

“At Zaadz, we share the understanding that the culture of our company consists in the values we - as individuals and as a team - embody. And of course, it’s important that the values we live are in alignment with those we talk about!

Our mission statement is to inspire and empower people to live authentically, encouraging them to discover their greatest strengths so that they might offer these gifts in service to the world.

It would be impossible for us to do this outside the company while ignoring what happens within—and beyond this, we recognize how essential it is that our purpose flow from somewhere deeply internal.

Each of us takes full responsibility for the living values of the company by committing to contributing our personal strengths to the world—and this is a radically democratic endeavor.”

You can learn more about Zaadz and read Brian’s blog by clicking here.