In defence of organisations, big and small

Are we constantly barking at the wrong trees?

We all have our grievances with companies and organisations of all shapes and colours – be it in our private or professional lives. As customers, business partners, clients or suppliers, from time to time, we feel cheated by corporations; mistreated by government agencies; let down by service providers. On occasion, we are outraged by company’s behaviour, or by a stance an organisation is taking on an issue – even if their actions (or, lack of) do not impact us directly. We call these organisations names, increasingly often turning to social media to vent our frustrations.

Organisations don’t deserve such treatment.

I recently watched a 2005 documentary titled “Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room”. Based on a 2003 book of the same name, the film examines the collapse of the Enron Corporation. I also remember the chills another documentary had given me a few years back: ‘Inside Job’, a 2010 film about the global financial crisis of 2007–2008. To me, these two documentaries share very important messages.

First, it is never a ‘company’ or an ’organisation’ that does us wrong. As such, legal entities do not act on their own. It is always people – acting as a collective, and almost never single individuals – that are responsible for actions (or, lack of). It is the people we should have grievances with, not ‘brands’.

And secondly, events of such seismic proportions… the fall of Enron or the global financial crisis… are unlikely to result from actions (or, lack of) of people in just one organisation. To the contrary: it takes a lot of wrongdoing by a lot of people from within many organisations to pull off such events. When things go south and the world crumbles, only a few would usually suffer the consequences (if any).