I learnt a lot from my fellow participants but equally they also learnt a lot from me. To them, that was a surprise. As the only person who worked in a non-profit, they arrived to the course with certain assumptions about what I knew, and what I didn’t know.
Received wisdom – that business knows best – promotes the view that big companies can teach charities a lesson or two about how to do things. Whilst this is undoubtedly the case it ignores the point that the reverse is also true.
Companies learning from charities can’t be a new idea, but very little has been written on the subject. It’s something that I think would be worth exploring further. Here are just three areas where I think that business could learn from charities:
- Marketing and PR – Charities are masters at getting people to give and loyally lend their support. Touching the emotions is something that charities do better than anyone. Are there techniques and skills that companies could learn?
- Lobbying – Government policy is crucial to how companies do business, how profitable an industry is and what strategy is appropriate for the future. Yet companies lag behind charities when it comes to lobbying, even though they often have vastly greater resources. In a survey in 2008, 76% of MPs in the UK parliament agreed or strongly agreed that charities are more effective at campaigning amongst MPs than companies.
- Culture and ethos – Motivating employees is something that charities often do very well, even when they work for very little financial reward. Can companies learn from charities about creating loyalty and getting that bit extra out of employees?
I think that a greater appreciation of the mutual learning that could take place could benefit both businesses and charities, and especially give the latter access to more opportunities to learn how to improve. Charities should be welcome in business schools - for what they can learn and what they can teach.
What do you think? What else could businesses learn from charities? Comments are welcome.
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3 comments:
Nice post, John. It's amazing how often this relatively simple point is still forgotten / ignored (that learning goes both ways). As Jim Collins put it in his monograph Good to Great and the Social Sectors, "We must reject the idea that the primary path to greatness in the social sectors is to become 'more like a business' ". There's plenty of commercial businesses, large and small, that need to improve their strategy, planning, financial management, focus, systems etc., not just charities and social enterprises.
[indeed, it often seems bizarre given the recent financial crisis to be lectured and advised on leadership and how finance should work by banks and financial institutions]
So I would absolutely agree that there is mutual learning to take place. Particularly at a time when issues such as 'internalising the externalities' (what does truly sustainable growth look like), inspiring and motivating people, and rebuilding trust and credibility should be at the forefront of many corporates' minds.
Peter F Drucker wrote extensively on this topic. I thought you and your readers might want to explore
http://www.druckerinstitute.com/
I chanced upon to view your blog and found it very interesting. Great ... Keep it up!
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