I think of public, private, and non-profit organizations as a category that covers the bulk of our socio-economic organizations...
And I'm not giving any 'one true way' to organize them, in part because... well.
It's like this. If you keep a 'servant-leadership mentality', or a 'shepherd taking care of their flock' mentality, then your focus on the general welfare of your people will guide you to whatever answers you need. And those answers may change, depending on the time, place, and circumstances.
Although it's quite funny, there's an element of truth to the old SNL skit:
People don't always know what the 'best' way of doing things are. They just know that something isn't working, and they want you to fix it.
That's a strength and a weakness, ofc. All sorts of people are offering their solution to the problem, and some of them are pretty awful as far as solving the problem. Or they come with long term consequences. Whatever.
I think that's part of why history has shown, repeatedly, creative solutions to the problems of the day (which can then play a role in creating the problems of tomorrow, often as not). All our norms and institutions, all the rules and 'proper' way of doing things, can get swept aside in an emergency as people demand 'fix it!'
Whoever rises to power at that time generally has to find some way of tying their reign to the earlier precedents. Hence Augustus calling himself "first among equals" even as he changed Rome entirely. Charles Martel initially served as a 'power behind the throne', didn't claim the throne after the official ruler died (but was pretty much too powerful for anyone else to take over), though he set the foundation for his son and grandson to rule.
Anyways, point of all that was this. Don't get too hung up on what 'should' be done via the private sector, or public sector, or non-profit. If something is an issue, people will scream 'fix it', and maybe (eventually) someone will step up to the plate.
The government ends up taking on a lot of things because when something isn't working, someone generally says "there ought to be a law", and lo and behold a law is passed.
Take OSHA for example. Businesses showed (yet again, and repeatedly) that they cared more about profits than creating a safe and secure working environment for their people. People died, or lost limbs, or eyes, or were poisoned by radiation or black lung or brown lung or any number of ills. So someone said "this isn't right, there ought to be a law", and now we have OSHA.
There are other ways of handling this, ofc. I'd be willing to consider 'cutting the red tape' and simplifying things... but my way would prob be even more harsh.
Basically, I'd say there's just one law. One regulation.
"Provide a safe and secure working environment for your people."
And there would be a website with guidelines on what is considered the industry standard. It could even be run by the private sector, or a non-profit... if they showed they actually cared about employee safety.
But here's the thing... if anyone, any single employee, is hurt or injured on the job because the company didn't create a safe working environment, I would want Every. Single. Person. in that chain of command fired, and the company slapped with a fine so big that it actually hurt. None of this 'slap on the wrist' stuff that they can make up in a few hours of sales. Because here's the thing - if you care that little about your people, you shouldn't be in business.
And if the managers know so little about working conditions that they're unaware of those conditions?
They shouldn't be managers, either.
So no OSHA inspections. No miles and miles of safety regulations to skim through. But if you get it wrong, if you don't bother to look up proper safety guidelines and don't implement them?
You're out of a job, and your company might be out of business, too.
So whatever. Private sector, public sector, non-profit, I don't care. If you're not making sure your company is providing a safe working environment - Fix it.
That's the overarching thing to keep in mind for all my future posts.
And I'm not giving any 'one true way' to organize them, in part because... well.
It's like this. If you keep a 'servant-leadership mentality', or a 'shepherd taking care of their flock' mentality, then your focus on the general welfare of your people will guide you to whatever answers you need. And those answers may change, depending on the time, place, and circumstances.
Although it's quite funny, there's an element of truth to the old SNL skit:
People don't always know what the 'best' way of doing things are. They just know that something isn't working, and they want you to fix it.
That's a strength and a weakness, ofc. All sorts of people are offering their solution to the problem, and some of them are pretty awful as far as solving the problem. Or they come with long term consequences. Whatever.
I think that's part of why history has shown, repeatedly, creative solutions to the problems of the day (which can then play a role in creating the problems of tomorrow, often as not). All our norms and institutions, all the rules and 'proper' way of doing things, can get swept aside in an emergency as people demand 'fix it!'
Whoever rises to power at that time generally has to find some way of tying their reign to the earlier precedents. Hence Augustus calling himself "first among equals" even as he changed Rome entirely. Charles Martel initially served as a 'power behind the throne', didn't claim the throne after the official ruler died (but was pretty much too powerful for anyone else to take over), though he set the foundation for his son and grandson to rule.
Anyways, point of all that was this. Don't get too hung up on what 'should' be done via the private sector, or public sector, or non-profit. If something is an issue, people will scream 'fix it', and maybe (eventually) someone will step up to the plate.
The government ends up taking on a lot of things because when something isn't working, someone generally says "there ought to be a law", and lo and behold a law is passed.
Take OSHA for example. Businesses showed (yet again, and repeatedly) that they cared more about profits than creating a safe and secure working environment for their people. People died, or lost limbs, or eyes, or were poisoned by radiation or black lung or brown lung or any number of ills. So someone said "this isn't right, there ought to be a law", and now we have OSHA.
There are other ways of handling this, ofc. I'd be willing to consider 'cutting the red tape' and simplifying things... but my way would prob be even more harsh.
Basically, I'd say there's just one law. One regulation.
"Provide a safe and secure working environment for your people."
And there would be a website with guidelines on what is considered the industry standard. It could even be run by the private sector, or a non-profit... if they showed they actually cared about employee safety.
But here's the thing... if anyone, any single employee, is hurt or injured on the job because the company didn't create a safe working environment, I would want Every. Single. Person. in that chain of command fired, and the company slapped with a fine so big that it actually hurt. None of this 'slap on the wrist' stuff that they can make up in a few hours of sales. Because here's the thing - if you care that little about your people, you shouldn't be in business.
And if the managers know so little about working conditions that they're unaware of those conditions?
They shouldn't be managers, either.
So no OSHA inspections. No miles and miles of safety regulations to skim through. But if you get it wrong, if you don't bother to look up proper safety guidelines and don't implement them?
You're out of a job, and your company might be out of business, too.
So whatever. Private sector, public sector, non-profit, I don't care. If you're not making sure your company is providing a safe working environment - Fix it.
That's the overarching thing to keep in mind for all my future posts.
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