"Interdependence is ten times more challenging than independence, but it is the only viable long-term solution for effectiveness in our relationships at work and at home. This is brilliantly illustrated in Unshrink."
Dr Stephen Covey, author, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
Unshrink offers a a set of leadership and business principles that make us better people, that make businesses more profitable and that make the world a more decent place to live. It also highlights the deeply embedded myths that keep people and businesses from fulfilling their potential.
Unshrink is a new word. It means to restore something to its natural dimensions. It leads to radical change without going back to the beginning. For ourselves, for other people, for businesses.
And that’s desirable, argue Max McKeown and Philip Whiteley, because people and businesses have been shrunk. And to be all we can be – fulfilled, successful decent people who work in profitable, sustainable, successful businesses, we need to bust the myths that are keeping us and our companies shrunk.
Our shrinking myths tell us that we are what we do, that work is more important than life, that capital creates value, that people are stupid, that people do as they are told, that all change is good, that plans must be kept secret, and that the organisation is a machine.
To replace the myths we will need new principles to give us back our sleep and self-respect while at the same time increasing passion and profitability. These principles will help us deal with our world, our ever more complex world,the way it is. Clear principles and truths help us to understand unclear events and situations.
From these principles we discover that we are not what we do, but what we can become. That work does not come first, it should only serve life. That we are all are human, boss and employee alike. That the plan must stop being secret so that it can unify everyone. That only good change is good. That our organisations and our world are communities not machines. That they are only improved as we share. And that sharing will only happen as trust is built not as the number of rules is increased.
Does this mean anarchy? Far from it. But it does mean not treating employees like criminals, sheep, rats, half-wits, or naughty children. It means a workplace for grown-up, complete people with families, brains, unfulfilled ambitions, and pride. People who will follow willingly when they understand the principles, believe in them, and are permitted the freedom to follow their own initiative in so doing. Unshrunk people make better employees and better citizens. Unshrunk businesses make better employers and increased profit.
Most people have at some time felt squashed, exploited and taken advantage of - especially at work. We feel insignificant. We feel shrunk. It is common to assume that when this happens someone, somewhere is benefiting at our expense.
Our book demonstrates that this is not so; that our modern world is based on inter-dependence, and that our potential to grow by sharing is largely untapped.
Unshrink argues that our common beliefs have shrunk us. We pretend that conflict is inevitable, that behaving selfishly is the way to succeed, and that at work we are mere pawns, or 'resources' - a means to the ends of mysterious, powerful forces. Unshrink illustrates that no logic, or evidence, supports these views. Authors Philip Whiteley and Max Mckeown have assembled research that demonstrates the opposite: that employers who are honest and let people use their abilities are more likely to be successful.
The implication is profound. We do not have to choose between head and heart to anything like the degree that we commonly suppose.
