Manifesto for a New Way of Working

I'd like to take a moment to remind you who I am and what I believe. I am Roger Turnau, and I have dedicated my company, Gathering Ability, to the idea that work should be

• Joyous,
• Inspiring, and

• Prosperous

When I started, this seemed like a fairly innocuous stance. I had been working in organizational transformation for a few years, and was well versed in both theory and practice of how to create a culture of excellence by cultivating kindness, awareness, sensitivity, and openness to change. I knew how to convince teams to try new things, knew how to get them to trust each other and to work together. I saw first-hand how much economic opportunity was unlocked when you introduced a sense of joy and fun into business.

In my heart I saw a new possibility: a system of capitalism based not on oppression and exploitation, but on cooperation and shared purpose. Rather than drudgery and resentment, I saw playfulness and enthusiasm. Rather than caution and cost-cutting, I saw innovation, growth, and prosperity. Rather than fear, I saw an opportunity for enthusiasm, safety, and a genuine belief that powerful change is not just desirable, it is necessary.

This stance has, in the past few months, begun to feel more and more revolutionary. And as our politics has leaned more and more into a stance of open autocracy, I'm getting increasingly comfortable with the idea that yes, I am a revolutionary. And I invite you to join the revolution.

I don't believe I am alone in my faith for the world. And I believe that a small, dedicated team of believers can move our society to a better and desperately needed place.

So here is my manifesto:

• Most people spend one-third of their waking lives at work. If we undertake to change the world, the workplace is an ideal starting point.
• We need leaders who understand how to lead with their hearts, and who understand how to inspire their followers.
• We need workers who understand that their voice is valid, and who enthusiastically embrace their power to question and change the status quo.
• We need to fight unceasingly against the forces in the world that would leave us complacent and cynical. We fight with love, open always to the idea that today's enemy can and should be tomorrow's ally.
• We have no space in our work or in our lives for hatred, bigotry, exclusion, or belittling. We believe, through study and experience, that these attitudes dissolve in the presence of a sufficiently powerful love.
• The best work is produced when workers are sufficiently challenged to reach beyond their limitations, but also when they feel safe, when mistakes are opportunities for learning rather than punishment, and when leaders strive every day to create a system that enables workers to surpass expectations.
• We are practical idealists. We do not expect perfection, but advocate for the daily practice of striving to improve on yesterday.
• We are capitalists. We believe in making money in non-exploitative ways that create prosperity for everyone. This is not anti-capitalist. It is, rather, the dawn of a more durable capitalism that seeks to benefit more than one or two winners. This should be properly understood as a new, more perfect capitalism.

If this message resonates with you — here's hoping it does — then please get in touch with me. I want this to be a conversation about how we can take this revolution into our workplaces and let it permeate our lives. I acknowledge that this all sounds crazy. That is exactly why we need it.

The time is to act now. Please join me. Let's take what's broken in this world and fix it.

Roger Turnau
roger@gatheringability.com