New Localism

Discussion

Stephen Denning:

"I refer to “the new localism” in which a number of books have been written about the possibility of returning to a more local approach to work in order to combat the malfunctions of the modern workplace. Books such as The Craftsman by Richard Sennett, Deep Economy by Bill McKibben and Shop Class as Soulcraft, by Matthew Crawford. For these writers, the solution to big business is small business. Yet my conclusion is that these calls for a return to a local approach to work are romantic but unrealistic. There is no way that the local store is going to be able to produce a flat-screen television. So long as people want flat-screen televisions or their equivalent, globalization is here to stay. As a general economic theory, the new localism may be nutty, but I also point to the grain of truth within it: the importance of a clear line of sight from those doing the work to those for whom the work is intended, and the possibility of focusing work on delighting those people as a way of relieving the threat to the human spirit posed by boring, meaningless labor.

The new localism is a wonderful thing, so far as it goes. But it’s romantic and unrealistic to think that it can replace the global economy. It’s a question of scale." (http://www.we-magazine.net/we_leadership-volume-05/traditional-management-stopped-working/)