What everyone needs

What everyone needs

Monopoly

I grew up playing this game and I’ve got to say I never liked it. Why?

Think about the premise: you can only win by bankrupting everyone else. But, the game didn’t start this way. Its inventor, back in 1904 was a Washington feminist inventor, artist and poet, Lizzie Magie. And, her name for the game was “The Landlord’s Game”.

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You could choose to play either of two versions of the rules. The “monopolist” rules you know well.

The “anti-monopolist” version was designed to show how an economy that rewards wealth shared amongst individuals is better than one where wealth is held by a few. That version of the game ended when the poorest player doubled their starting economic position.

Magie’s aim was to show people how rents enrich landlords and impoverish tenants and it was her form of social activism in response to the early 20th century practices of land grabbing and packing people into tenement slums.

Parker Brothers bought the game from Magie in the 1930s for $500 and they removed the ‘anti-monopolist’ version, leaving only the version we know today. And, you could say it’s become a monopoly of its own, by selling 275 million copies and printing 3 trillion dollars of “monopoly money” to date.

Question: In your organisation, what strategic ideas get pruned, or even perverted, when one set of interests prevail?

Equality

While I’m on my soapbox, allow me to talk about a book I’ve been reading - slowly.?Thomas Picketty’s “A Brief History of Equality”?is 244 pages of jam-packed insight. Both his earlier tomes are on my bookshelves (unread: they defeated me). This is brilliant and highly recommended to anyone who wants to understand not just how, but why, we’ve become?more equal over time.

Picketty’s major point is that the march towards equality, in Western countries, has stalled. Back in the 1980s in fact. That’s when equality peaked (the richest 10% in the USA generated “only” 35% of all income in 1980; today it’s close to 50%; in Europe, the numbers are 26% in 1980 and 38% in 2020).

But, why does equality matter?

Let me quote Picketty: “The idea that there might be only winners is a dangerous and anaesthetising illusion that must be abandoned immediately”.

Like Monopoly, any economic system that is, effectively, a zero-sum game (“What I gain, you lost”) is destined to political failure (upheaval by those disenfranchised), environmental catastrophe (because of disproportionate resource use) and censorship (because of dominant media systems that can be bought by commercial interests).

uestion: In your organisation, how do you build a base of equality while incentivising merit?


Down

My second job out of university, with my not-quite-freshly-minted psychology degree, was finding jobs for people with intellectual disabilities.

Most of them worked in a ‘sheltered workshop’ (where they earned $33 a week) and my mission was to find people who could work in ‘open employment’, that is, in a regular job, where they stood a chance to earn ten times as much.

At least a dozen of the people I found work for in my first months were people with Down Syndrome. The British physician?John Down?identified the condition in 1866 and was infuriated by how people with disabilities were treated: fed poorly, clothed dirtily, treated demeaningly, and left to stagnate.

Instead, he bought a mansion, which he set up along the lines of the best private schooling: people there were taught art, horse riding, and gardening. And, Down dressed them cleanly, and well. In fact, his photographic archives contain pictures like this one, beautiful portraits of people posing in flattering ways, showing their best selves.

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Question: How do you enable people in your organisation to show themselves in their best possible way?


I really appreciate all the people who simply click 'like’ to say they’ve enjoyed this week’s 5MSM. I also enjoy hearing from you, either directly here, or via?email?so drop me a line.

And, of course, you can share 5MSM with others if you know people who might enjoy reading.

In the meantime, look around you for signs of equality (and its opposite) and I look forward to being with you next Friday.

Andrew

Fascinating, thanks Andrew. So many things that are set up as win-lose don’t have to be

Katie Doan MSc PCC

Executive Coach | Leadership Coach | Career Coach | Facilitator | Consultant | DEI Mentor| I help individuals and organisations to find more joy at work

2 年

Love your story about John Down. Reminds me of Carol Dweck's story of an incredible teacher sent to work in an under-served school where the children and the adults around them had all but given up. This teacher brought in the Classics and believed that they were all capable of not only reading it but also discussing the ideas. After a year, they were reciting Shakespeare by heart! I've seen in my own circles the difference it makes when one powerful person believes in the potential of another who can't yet see it in themselves. Can change the trajectory of a young person's life.

Marie Gill

Director at Gill and Willcox

2 年

Great and thought provoking read as always Andrew. Particularly loved todays though cause I think I would rather poke holes in my eyes than read “ A brief history of Equality” so feel very lucky that you can read and provide me with the gems??

Barry Schipplock

Helping Aussie Charities stay Mission Focussed, Work Smarter and Grow

2 年

Always a good, thought provoking 5 minutes. Thanks Andrew. PS: I hated the Monopoly game too.

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