Anarchists in the Boardroom is a call-out to non-profit organizations, charities, trade unions, voluntary organizations and activists to change their ways of working. It calls on them to nurture creativity, to learn from social movements and social media in order to stay relevant in the times ahead, and to actually live their values. Barrington-Bush’s ‘more like people’ approach is based on the belief that NGOs have become ‘over-professionalized’ and must create space for humanity, complexity and autonomy – the three principles that relationships are based on…. besides anarchism and ecology.
According to the author, Humanity means learning from how we do — and how we would like to — relate to each other. Complexity means understanding that we are part of a larger system, that each of our actions has effects and consequences we cannot foresee — and that organizations need to embrace this and bravely open up to the creative possibilities of unforeseen consequences. Autonomy is about trust, and realizing that although trust means taking risks, it can bring rewards.
The author further explains the value of his basic principles, exploring key areas in which non-profit organizations need to change their approach: by dismantling hierarchy, addressing difference and going beyond diversity, making space for innovation and creativity, confronting ownership and dis-empowerment, and looking at organizational culture.
This is what Roger Clark, former Secretary General of Amnesty International Canada, had to say about the book: “Anarchists in the Boardroom is a disturbing book in so many ways. All of them good. It challenges us to rethink the dinosaur assumptions on which most of our organizations are built. It opens our minds to fresh and creative possibilities for treating ourselves and colleagues with trust and compassion. Above all, it places the qualities of being human at the heart of our endeavors, putting a better world within the reach of us all. A vade mecum for life!”
