Two days ago, I discussed the importance of expanding American workers’ self-perceptions to include images of themselves as inventors, innovators, and entrepreneurs. And I stressed the importance of changing their mind-sets in a way that places the options of becoming inventors, innovators, and entrepreneurs in the forefront of their daily thoughts. My objective for today was to discuss the role educators can and should play in helping American workers to make these changes? But I realized that my suggestions would probably be easier to understand if I share my thoughts about the concept of the American corporation, before doing so.
Now, when I think about the American corporation, I will admit that negative adjectives are the first thoughts that come to my mind: greedy, uncaring, money-hungry, out-for-themselves, exploitive, corrupt, tax-evading, powerful, privileged, dishonest, un-patriotic, un-American, and a few others that I can’t recall at the present time. I suspect that there are a number of other Americans who also think of these words and similar words every time the words, “American corporation,” are mentioned. To be quite honest, I’ve used a few of these adjectives myself, because I know companies that these adjectives accurately describe, but I also know companies that none of these adjectives describe. Deep down in my heart, however, I know that most of us simply think of a corporation as a place of employment where people go to earn a living. We believe that it makes and sells its products. Then it uses the money from its sales to pay its workers, pays is bills, and buy the materials it needs to make more products. The rest of the money goes to its stock holders, the owners the company. Essentially, this is our working concept of a corporation. Hiring, firing, employed, unemployed, laid-off, wages, and benefits are the most important words that we associate with it, because these are the most important words in our relationship with the corporation. Apparently our political leaders, especially our governors, also think of corporations as “places of employment,” which might explain the reason they continue to give them more and more tax breaks and other incentives, in the hope that these inducements will encourage the corporations to relocate to the states these leaders represent.
“Create jobs, create jobs, and create more jobs” seem to be the goal ― at any cost. “Bring the corporations and they will make this happen by employing our people” seems to be the driving thought behind it.
It is a good plan, which hasn’t work in any of the states that has tried it. But even if it worked and obtained 100 percent of its current objectives ― “bring more corporations to the states and increase the number of people employed” ― these accomplishments pale in comparison to the potential greatness that could have been achieved with a more comprehensive, thoughtful vision, whose game plan effectively assembled the states’ most important institutions (schools, universities, technical schools, unions, businesses, leaders, workers . . .) to work in concert with each other towards the same goals: Increase businesses and increase employment.
In order to appreciate this last point, we must switch our thinking around by pointing all the vectors in the opposite direction. Instead of thinking of the corporation as the place that “makes and sells” products, we must force ourselves to think of it as the place that “needs and buys” products. We must think of it as a consumer with many definite needs. (It is important to remember that a corporation’s main goal is to make more and more money, and it is willing to do almost anything that will enable it to do so.) This means that it is constantly in need of equipments that are more durable, safer to operate, save cost, provide better services, provide cheaper services, increase production, and create better products ― especially if these equipments also protect the environment and meet environmental standards. No one is in a better position to see the ways of meeting these needs that the workers. And no one is in a better position to prepare them, assist them, advise them, form partnership with them ― in addition to doing their own share of inventing, innovating, improving, and owning ― than the states’ institutions!
This is so empowering for everyone ― especially the workers!
But this is just the tip of the empowering strategy for our awesome work force. In tomorrow’s blog, we are going global!
