Common-sense decentralization by working with human nature—not against it

Around 1960, in Norway, an intense societal debate took place concerning the large discrepancy that was felt between the country’s democratic and egalitarian traditions, which for centuries had been deeply embedded in society, and the emerging post-war autocratic practices of industrial organizations. Like everywhere else in the industrialized world, the centralized, hierarchical command-and-control organizations with their fragmented one-man-one-task logic had caused frustration and alienation among employees. Researchers had reached the conclusion that, under these circumstances, the lack of freedom and autonomy did not only prevent the individual worker to develop fully his or her human, but also productive potential. Generally, the prevailing sort of work did not square with the higher demands that the modern, better educated employee made of his or her work. It also ran counter to the increasing competitive pressures on organizations from the outside to arrive at more flexible and responsive structures. Ten years before anywhere else in the world, politicians, employers, and unions in Norway joined hands to tackle the problem. They started a formal cooperation project. Industrial democracy became the magic word.