Joy at Work: A Revolutionary Approach to Fun on the Job
by Dennis W. Bakke
ISBN: 0976268604

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Toward the end of the book, Bakke lists nine reasons why similar workplace models do not emerge elsewhere, in spite of favorable research and anecdotal evidence of the model's success:

(1) Managers and bosses won't restrain themselves from making decisions. Leaders believe it is their right to do so. They are "in the best position" to make the call. By a large margin, their refusal to delegate responsibilities is the reason that so many people are bored and unhappy in their jobs.

(2) Leaders have the wrong motives. They may allow subordinates the freedom to make significant decisions, but they do so primarily because they believe it will lead to financial success or serve other objectives unrelated to a fun workplace. Working people aren't fooled.

(3) The organization's purpose is shallow or selfish. If employees can't adopt the mission of a company as their own, and if they can't see why it's worthwhile to society, the liklihood of joy at work diminishes dramatically.

(4) Mistakes are often attributed to systems rather than to human error or outside forces. When mistakes are made by lower-level employees in decentralized organizations, blame is often assigned to the practice of delegating decisions. The result: a return to the top-down, hierarchical structures of the past.

(5) Information is provided only to senior executives and board members. Sharing information, including financial data, with every employee is crucial to fun workplaces. It makes people feel trusted and important.

(6) Senior executives certify all information required by the government. Unless ways are found to circumvent this regulatory rigamarole--at AES, we would make plant people "officers" so they could perform certification--lower-level employees are marginalized.

(7) Boards of directors require decisions to be made by themselves or by sernior leaders. Board members work part time and typically get to know only a few top executives. Because directors are unfamiliar with people at lower levels, they tend not to seek their advice or rely on their expertise. When excluded from decisions, employees become estranged from the enterprise.

(8) Management and labor are adversaries. Hourly pay, overtime work, unions, perks, uniforms, and numerous other artifical and unnecessary distinctions create a class system in the workplace.

(9) Employees are treated like children. Paternalism and the desire for security prevent people from taking risks and responsibility (pp. 238-9).

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