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What does America stand for? Pausing to reflect on the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, America’s self-conception seems to be in disarray. Americans no longer believe the future will be brighter. Trust is near all-time lows, not only low trust of governing institutions but low trust of the moral character of other Americans.
I have a hypothesis: America is out of our control. Like a giant wind tunnel, the “system” propels us forward with little opportunity for human direction. Law is everywhere, even in ordinary daily interactions. Instead of discussing what’s right, or practical, Americans worry about legal ramifications. Instead of upholding law as a shield for freedom, our leaders wield law as a weapon for self-interest. Of course Americans feel fear and distrust. The land of opportunity is a legal minefield.
Mary Parker Follett was a seminal thinker in management theory. In the early days of large industrial organization, when Frederick Winslow Taylor was preaching the gospel of “scientific management,” Follett emphasized the social aspects of any group enterprise. Taylor was not wrong—improving efficiency remains an ongoing goal of successful manufacturers. But his efficient workplace could result in mind-numbing repetition. Follett understood that workers had human needs—for variety, for agency, for mutual understanding.
Follett originated the idea that, in the words of former Harvard Business School Dean Nitin Nohria, “organizations perform best when they operate on the basis of shared responsibility and not . . . command and obedience.”
Common Good Chair Philip K. Howard’s new book, Not Accountable: Rethinking the Constitutionality of Public Employee Unions, will be published by Rodin Books on January 24. In the book, he argues that public employee unions have undermined democratic governance and should be unconstitutional. Constitutional government can’t work when elected leaders lose control over public operating machinery.