A burning platform

An interesting debate is taking place over in the US, with the founder of Burning Man, Larry Harvey, stating that his festival’s Ten Principles might one day form the basis of a new world order.

For those not familiar with this festival, you’re missing out on a cultural phenomenon. According to Lizzie Widdicombe’s article in the New Yorker, which reported on Harvey’s pronouncements, Burning Man is ‘an annual arts festival and bacchanal in the Nevada desert’ which attracts over 60,000 people, has its own gift-based economy (generally, no monetary transactions are allowed) and even boasts its own airport and electrical grid.

So Harvey’s values appear to have sparked a faithful, if largely contained, following. But can they be applied to a wider context: specifically, that of business?

We asked for the views of Richard Barrett, author of The Values-Driven Organisation and founder of the influential Barrett Values Centre in South Carolina.

Conscious improvements

‘The Burning Man principles clearly have the purpose of creating community,’ Barrett says. ‘Not just a Burning Man community, but a larger, more inclusive community at a societal level.’ Barrett sees links between these principles and those of a recent cultural trend, conscious capitalism.

‘At the heart of this approach is the idea that business is a wholly owned subsidiary of society, and society is a wholly owned subsidiary of the environment,’ says Barrett. ‘If the environment crashes, then society will crash and business will crash too. When organisations recognise they are not separate from society, and build business strategies that care for all stakeholders, all the data suggests they inevitably prosper.’

Barrett says that the shift from “I” to “we”, from “what’s in it for me?” to “what’s best for the common good” and from “being the best in the world” to “best for the world” is proving to be not only a winning strategy but a winning cultural formula too.

So would the Ten Principles work as organisational values? Yes, says Barrett, with the proviso that the behaviours were modified to fit one’s own organisation. (‘Values are concepts that transcend contexts, whereas behaviours are contextual,’ he explains.)

Specifically, Barrett says of the principles:

In a company environment, values such as radical self-expression, radical self-reliance and participation would not only give employees a voice, they would enable the organisation to tap into employee’s creativity and inspire them to bring forth their entrepreneurial ideas, thereby generating high levels of employee engagement.

Radical inclusion and communal effort speak to creating internal cohesion—all for one, and one for all. We all win or we all lose. These values when fully practiced encourage loyalty. In such an environment employees want to go the extra mile for the company, and they want to bring their discretionary energy to their work.

Immediacy and inclusion both support internal cohesion through honest open and direct communication.  These values also speak to dealing with problems and conflicts as soon as they arise. Issues are not left to fester and misunderstandings are dealt with right away. This creates an emotionally clean environment for people to work in.

Unconditional gifting speaks to caring for people without any thought of getting anything in return. This is a high level concept which is at the core of the golden rule. More and more companies are making gifting part of their strategy. They not only find ways to give back to the community, they provide services and products at no cost to those who cannot afford them and they take care of the special needs of their employees.

Civic responsibility and leaving no trace speak to the need of sustainability. Companies that fail to embrace their civic and environmental duties are being increasingly punished in the market place.

Of all the values, the one that is most difficult to translate into a business setting is decommodification. It works in the context of the Burning Man because it creates a social environment unmediated by any form of marketing. In a business context decommodification could translate into less elaborate packaging of products, or no packaging at all, and marketing through gifting products and services to the poor and disadvantaged rather than direct advertising.

So it seems that for all Harvey’s hubris, there are many cultural tips, and commercial advantages, to be gained by listening to his (ahem) inflammatory ideas.

About the author

Andrew Baird

Andrew is the CEO of HRville. He is also Employer Brand Director of Blackbridge Communications, Editorial Director of Professionals in Law and an associate of The Smarty Train. Previously, he was the MD of TCS Advertising.