Creating WE Book Review
By Jim Pawlik

Source: Daily Herald; Arlington Heights, Ill.
Publication date: 2005-07-11

"Creating WE: Changing I-Thinking to WE-Thinking" by Judith Glaser, Platinum Press, $24.95.

While workers are encouraged to operate as "ME Inc." in a free- agent workplace, they must never lose sight of two things related to success: 1. Your goals must be compatible with those of the organization; 2. Collaboration is always required.

Glaser's book marries "Me Inc." to "We Inc." I loved her take on territoriality; it's born out of fear and lack of trust. When we doubt the abilities and motives of those around us, we succumb to negative self-talk (e.g. I can't rely on them; they're out to get me; it's us versus them, etc.)

The result? An adversarial interpretation of reality that shapes reactions like: fault finding, blame game, "I'll show them" and "Not in my backyard."

Territoriality is Me Inc. to the extreme; there's no thought of the organization's goals in this me-first scenario.

How do you get from this extreme to We-thinking? Glaser's solution: "Work together to discover best practices in a company." Obviously, senior management must take an "enforcer's" role to make this happen because silo dwellers won't do it on their own.

Once forced to collaborate, positive things happen because the once-adversaries recognize that "sharing best practices is a way of elevating the skills and talents of everyone to a higher level."

- E-mail Jim Pawlak at bizbooks@hotmail.com.