The WorldBlu Conference + Awards is just two weeks away and I'm pumped about it. We have people coming in from around the world who are all committed to exploring how to bring more democracy and freedom into the workplace. This is our third event like this and I know the quality of the people, ideas and energy will be outstanding. Plus, we have a lot of cool surprises planned.

Someone asked me recently if the concept of democratic management was just a "nice idea" and not a "must-have." I explained that many of the things organizations care about --  such as employee retention, attracting Gen X & Y talent, employee engagement, increasing innovation and productivity were all related to the operating system of the company. A command-and-control operating system would produce one set of results. A democratic management style would produce another (better!) set of results.

In the increasingly interconnected, participatory and collaborative age in which we live, you'd be hard-pressed to find someone advocating for a command-and-control management style as a way to address the challenges of running a business today.

People increasingly advocate for ideas such as more choice in the workplace (aka: ROWE), more autonomy (think Dan Pink's Drive) and even more happiness (a shout-out to WorldBlu awardee Zappos and Tony Hsieh's new book out today!). But all these authors and leaders know that it's not ONE thing that makes a company hum, it's all these ideas working in a freedom-centered operating system that makes it work. And that's not a luxuary, that's an imperative.

A less-than-ideal operating system on a computer can make computing difficult, even tedious and frustrating for the user. The same holds true for a company. The challenge is that most of us don't understand that the version of the operating system our company is running on is out of date. It's time for an upgrade.

So, I invite you to come learn more about how you can upgrade your operating system at the WorldBlu Conference + Awards in Vegas June 22-23rd. It's being hosted by Zappos Insights and ever since I first visited Zappos back in December 2008 and saw their democratic culture in action I became even more of a fan. Did I drink the Kool-Aid? Nah. I just know a good operating system when I see it.

Q: What’s a good way to make sure my employees are engaged and listening in company meetings?

A: Future Considerations is a London-based management consultancy that helps leading companies implement strategies and produce breakthrough results through people. Their democratic practice of dialogue and listening is creative and productive.

Every meeting starts with five minutes of attention practice (akin to meditation). This acts as a ‘pattern interrupt’, allowing each person to stop, reset and become fully ‘present’ for the meeting. This is followed by a ‘check-in’ a short sharing from each person. The purpose of this is to get out on the table anything that needs to be said to allow oneself to be fully present and to build relationship with the team. They find that these practices raise the quality of engagement and listening in our meetings and enable them to work together more effectively.

Additionally, they have several shared practices and structures for working with situations where listening breaks down, building dialogue skills, having difficult conversations and building and maintaining relationships. They practice these on ourselves, with their clients, and in the services they deliver.

CEO Mark Young encourages the use of a democratic workplace by stating, “Instituting workplace democracy practices was a major contributory factor, in moving Future Considerations from loss-making to profit-making – in the same year. First, workplace democracy gives every member oversight of all the factors that create collective success or failure. This enables them to make individual choices that lead to better functioning of the company. Second, it engages every member of the company in the big collective choices that determine success or failure. Those choices are informed by the experience and wisdom of the entire company, not just a few senior people. Third, the transparency and openness of workplace democracy generates accountability and self-regulation. Fourth, it makes us an extremely attractive company to work for and helps us to recruit and retain top level, high performers. They know that their efforts will make a difference; that their work will not be stolen or wasted by those ‘above’ them; and that they are responsible for the success or failure of the company. Fifth, by removing unnecessary hierarchy every single member of the company is able to shine and express their full talent.”

To learn more about 2010 WorldBlu Awardee, Future Considerations, please visit their website, here.

Q: How can having a clear purpose and vision translate to the bottomline?

A: 3i Infotech is a $550 million IT company with over 5,700 technology professionals providing a range of services to customers in 50 countries across five continents. Their main headquarters are located in Mumbai, India and Edison, New Jersey.

The purpose and vision statements for the organization has remained constant and has been clearly articulated throughout the organization. In fact, each year 31 Infotech conducts a global annual employee strategy meeting where the short term vision and long term vision for the company is shared. This is further divided into divisional goals and employee goals so that everyone is clear about their purpose and vision.

3i Infotechs name embodies their purpose and vision. Innovation, Insight and Integrity (the 3 i’s of 3i Infotech) are the core of their purpose and vision.

3i Infotech’s purpose and vision has guided them since their inception in 1999. They started as an IT company in late 1999, when all Y2K contracts (the single most important factor which contributed to the tremendous growth of the top Indian IT companies, between 1995 and 2000) had already been allotted and almost completed, making it not an ideal business environment in which to start a business. To make matters worse, shortly after inception were the 9/11 attacks and the dot com burst.

In spite of this, 3i Infotech has been able to reach the half-a-billion-dollar mark in its annual revenues within just ten years, guided by it’s purpose and vision. This speaks to the clarity of the company’s vision, which is applied at every point throughout the organization from the CEO to senior management to the operating levels. 3i Infotech has constantly had to reinvent itself (Innovation), something which has allowed it to thrive and adapt to market changes. This has been supplemented by having a keen Insight into the needs and aspiration of their customers, prospects and other stakeholders, and operating with great Integrity.

V. Srinivasan, CEO explains the impact of workplace democracy when he states, “With democracy in the workplace, you can generate a lot of ideas on revenue improvement, cost reduction and various other aspects of business. You can also make people take ownership of the vision and goals of the company, which is very important for its sustained growth.”

For more information on 2010 WorldBlu Awardee, 3i Infotech, please visit their website here.

Q: What’s a good way to stay committed to my company’s values and promote positive change?

A: Namasté Solar propagates the responsible use of solar energy and conscientious business practices. As the leading solar electric provider in Colorado, the company has grown quickly and intelligently with a commitment to the values of integrity, respect, honesty, and honoring commitments.

It is Namasté Solar’s goal to propagate the responsible use of solar energy, pioneer conscientious business practices, and create holistic wealth for our community. They define conscientious business practices as “doing the right thing” above all else for all stakeholders – customers, employees, investors, communities, and the environment. It also includes contributing to social justice, positive social change, and a healthier natural environment. Their idea of holistic wealth is that they benefit all stakeholders equitably and recognize how they are interdependent.

CEO Blake Jones explains, “Namasté Solar implements conscientious and democratic business practices because we recognize the interconnectedness of all stakeholders and all individuals – and have experienced firsthand how this fundamental integrity can translate into financial viability, consumer loyalty, and community recognition and support. Since the company was founded in 2005, Namasté Solar has gained a reputation for its unique business practices, community outreach, customer satisfaction, support of solar-friendly legislation, and for being one of the “best places to work” in Colorado. It has also grown from a staff of three to 68 and in 2009 was ranked 56^th on the Inc. 500 list of Fastest Growing Private Companies."

To learn more about the WorldBlu 2010 Awardee, Namasté Solar, go to their website here.

Q: Can taking a democratic approach to solving problems in the workplace help during challenging economic times?

A: Dialog, a WorldBlu List 2010 awardee and an Austin-based marketing consultancy, is a perfect example of using democracy in the workplace to endure an economically challenging time. In February of 2009, the SEC seized Stanford Bank when it was revealed that there was $19 billion missing from the bank.

All of Dialog’s savings – which was enough to cover two years of operations with no customer revenue – vanished over night. They had no money for payroll, overhead or to pay suppliers. What should have forced them to close their doors or to set them back by eight years turned out to be a fairly small blip for the company.

Using a democratic approach, everyone at Dialog was informed about the financial situation. They continued to practice open-book management so everyone could see what was happening on a moment to moment basis. Employees came together to creatively think through ways to scale back while they rebuilt the organization financially. Rather than laying people off and closing the doors, through transparency, fairness, integrity and yes – dialogue – they were able to get through the challenge and come back to full financial health in record time.

“We attribute this 100 percent to our democratic organizational model,” says Bob Gutermuth, founder and CEO. “We didn’t lose a single member of the team, we were able to navigate the challenges with little impact to the business, and today our company is more healthy than it ever has been – just one year later.”