Every year, Shareable.net content partner WorlBlu releases a list of the most transparent, participatory, and egalitarian workplaces they could find. Today, WorldBlue released its 2010 list:
This year’s WorldBlu List is comprised of 44 organizations from a diversity of industries including aerospace, technology, manufacturing, healthcare, telecommunications, retail, services and energy, with a combined annual revenue of over $12 billion. They range in size from five to 60,000 employees.
Clicking through the companies is a fascinating exercise that dispels many of the myths of democratic workplaces. There's nothing wrong with being a long-haired hippie in Birkenstocks–a stereotype that might, perhaps, be confirmed by Abby Quillen's recent profile of the Aprovecho collective in Oregon–but these companies are quite literally all over the map. They're culturally and racially diverse; they are found in many industries, from baking to telecom to high-tech medical manufacturing; and they embrace many missions, from pure profit to pure social transformation. They show that the principles of workplace democracy can be creatively applied in many different contexts.
Three times every month, Shareable.net publishes WorldBlu's "Weekly Democracy at Work Tips" series, which highlights best practices from each of these companies–but we're also interested in examples from your community. If you have any to share, please leave a comment, or, if you're feeling ambitious, suggest an article to me at jeremy (at) shareable.net.
