A Cultural Divide

In their book, 'The Support Economy' Zuboff and Maxmin (2002) declare "People have changed more than the business organizations upon which they depend."

"The last fifty years have seen the rise of a new breed of individuals, yet corporations continue to operate according to a logic invented at the time of their origin, a century ago."

"The chasm that now separates individuals and organizations is marked by frustration, mistrust, disappointment, and even rage."

"The problem wasn't management, per se, but the institutionalized practices and logic that shaped managers' work".

The supposition is prevalent the world over that there would be no problems in production or in service if only our production workers would do their jobs in the way that they were taught.

In the majority of contemporary organisations, the dominant activity is the generation of knowledge. Knowledge must not be confused with information. Information, however complete, is not knowledge. Deming pointed out that knowledge comes from theory. Thus, without people and a theory, information cannot generate knowledge. In the knowledge economy, each of us can choose to give or withhold our knowledge and it is virtually impossible to detect when we are doing so.

Only an enthusiastic workforce can create a resilient organisation.