REVIEWED BY DAVID A. FANTZ
Robert D. Putnam and Lewis M. Feldstein, with Don Cohen
Simon & Schuster, New York City, 2003, 294 pp., $26.95 (hardback)
More and more, our business culture is driven by a search to identify "best
practices," a constant striving for new and improved ways to yield better
outcomes. "Best practices" rely heavily on new technologies to enhance
efficiency and effectiveness in operations.
But here is a nagging question: Have we failed to include the human factor
in our "best practices"? Have we gone too far in promoting technology
and forgotten our roots?
Better Together: Restoring the American Community seems at first to
be another "feel-good" book from academia, which often tries
to guide the business world in new ways to look at people and widgets. However,
as the underlying themes of the book's varied stories are developed, it
becomes clear that the social science arena may have stumbled upon the need
to resurrect an old "best practice": the forming of "community"
among our associates in our businesses.
This book was written as a sequel to another work, Bowling Alone: The Collapse
and Revival of American Community, in which Better Together's
principal author, Robert D. Putnam, described the late-20th century deterioration
of America's social institutions. Better Together demonstrates the rediscovery
of civic renewal through community.
The many stories that fill this very readable study offer proof that the "old"
ways can work better than some of our "new" ways. While the authors
do not posit this work as a "best practice" (or talk about "old"
versus "new" ways), they clearly have stumbled across community as
itself a "best practice."
A dozen organizations are reviewed. In each case, the authors walk the reader
through the process used by the organization to develop a sense of community,
describing both successes and disappointments. However, even when some of the
organizations initially appeared destined to fail, they succeeded by developing
a community spirit that strengthened them in the long run.
In each of the organizations described, small communities form the backbone
of whatever success is achieved, the authors say. Although Better Together
focuses on local community activists—ranging from a Rio Grande Valley barrio
to a middle-American schoolchildren's group in Wisconsin—it draws
upon a broad perspective. The authors include stories about small communities:
a mega-sized church in Southern California; a joint venture involving a New
Hampshire shipyard and a local dance team; and a successful union-organizing
campaign at Harvard University, among others. In each of these cases, success
came from the development of hardworking personal relationships, not out of
a top-down or technological culture.
Business leaders may find an especially effective story in the community-building
process at United Parcel Services (UPS). It is interesting that the leaders
of UPS, a business that depends on speed and technology, have become so astoundingly
successful partly by slowing themselves down enough to spend time with and relate
to each employee in the company. Hospital leaders will be especially interested
in stories that describe how volunteer communities formed by retired citizens
have helped improve operations in both Chicago's public library system
and Philadelphia's metropolitan school system.
Such communities create what the authors call "social capital." They
are quick to point out that the benefits of social capital spread beyond those
involved in the actual work. Small communities built within larger organizations
stimulate an infectious attitude that tends to spawn positive relationships
throughout. This book is intended to "raise the bar" (or perhaps put
it back to where it formerly was) of civic renewal. But the lessons learned
can be applied to the business world—just ask UPS.
David A. Fantz
Vice President, Financial Management
Catholic Health Initiatives
Denver
Copyright © 2004 by the Catholic Health Association of the United States
For reprint permission, contact Betty Crosby or call (314) 253-3477.