Call to change the culture of the unions

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Today’s Australian newspaper reports that LABOR’S vice-president Tony Sheldon will urge the party today to find “a new sense of purpose and direction” or risk spending years in the political wilderness. “We need to change the culture of the unions to ensure they exercise their internal influence more democratically, more responsibility, and in a manner the community expects and respects,” he says.
A code of conduct for union officials and more democratic internal decision-making within unions on party issues are proposed.
“Unions know they ultimately need a strong ALP, and they know they must be part of the solution, not part of the problem if Labor is to be resurrected,” he will say.
“There is a long way to go before we can truly say that Labor’s democratic processes and its policies fully reflect the rights and beliefs of the party’s members and supporters,” Mr Sheldon says.
He will press the party not to be a “government in exile” or pursue power “at any cost” with the help of foreign spin doctors.
“No amount of image makeovers or social media smarts can make up for a lack of purpose and substance if we don’t know what social democracy means,” he says. “We need to get away from the silly belief that highly paid, hot-shot, overseas political consultants are all we need.” (emphasis added by TCD)

Mr Sheldon has a powerful grasp of the drivers of organisational culture. No mention of the once-fashionable but hugely ineffective engagement surveys. Mr Sheldon gets the difference between a culture by default versus a culture by design. Mr Sheldon gets the difference between a culture of compliance versus real sustainable change. He strikes at the heart of culture by design correctly by identifying the true values of the Labor Party when he speaks of the “rights and beliefs” of the membership. Organisations worldwide that focus on a rationally-based model for behaving miss the point that human organisations are not RATIONAL entities. Human organisations are BELIEFS-BASED entities. So once again Tony Sheldon is right when he calls for “purpose and substance” to drive the beliefs of the Labor Party rather than spin and “image makeovers”. In fact, Mr Sheldon is describing most of corporate Australia who also suffer from Shiny Brass Plaque Syndrome (SBP Syndrome).

Perhaps the Labor Party and its affiliated unions should listen carefully to Tony Sheldon today. I am.