Olivia: A recent study of over 100 organizations found that while most employees feel engaged and proud of their work, over 80% describe their company's dominant behaviors as hierarchical, controlling, and conforming. Jackson: Whoa. So we want to contribute, but the system itself is designed to stop us? That’s the paradox we’re diving into today. It’s like being a race car with the emergency brake permanently on. Olivia: Exactly. And it's the central problem tackled in What Philosophy Can Teach You About Being a Better Leader by Alison Reynolds, Dominic Houlder, Jules Goddard, and David Lewis. Jackson: I love the premise. And these aren't just armchair philosophers. The authors are a mix of consultants and faculty from top institutions like London Business School, who felt that decades of management theory had leached the humanity out of leadership. It’s a book with a bit of a mixed reception, which always makes for a good discussion—some find it revolutionary, others a bit idealistic. Olivia: Precisely. They argue that the solution isn't another productivity hack, but a return to the timeless wisdom of thinkers like Aristotle, Kant, and even Nietzsche to fix what's broken in the modern workplace. Jackson: Alright, philosophy in the boardroom. I'm both intrigued and a little skeptical. Let's see if they can pull it off.

Olivia: The book starts by diagnosing a feeling I think we’ve all had at some point: being a 'cog in the machine.' It's this sense of alienation that Karl Marx wrote about in the 19th century, but the authors argue it’s more relevant than ever. Jackson: That 'cog in the machine' feeling is so real. You’re just a line item, a resource to be optimized. Is that what they mean by dehumanization? Olivia: It is. And they use a powerful story to illustrate it. It’s about a woman named Dolores, an HR manager for a French engineering company's operation in Bogota, Colombia. For years, her local branch was run by a manager who prioritized customer care and employee loyalty. It was a community. People felt connected. Jackson: Sounds like a great place to work. I'm sensing a 'but' coming. Olivia: A big one. The head office in France, obsessed with cost ratios and efficiency, saw the Colombian branch as inefficient. They launched a massive global restructuring. Dolores’s boss was reassigned, two local factories were shut down, and her job was centralized. She ended up working from home, overseeing benefits, with a new boss she rarely spoke to. Jackson: Oh, that's brutal. From a community leader to an administrator in a system. Olivia: Worse. She described feeling like a 'head office spy' in her own country. She lost her autonomy, her connection to her colleagues, her purpose. She was completely alienated. The system had optimized the humanity right out of her job. Jackson: That's a heartbreaking story. It really shows the human cost of those top-down corporate decisions. But you could argue this is a problem for middle managers or frontline staff. Surely the people at the top, the leaders, don't feel this way? Olivia: That’s the most shocking insight. The book argues this alienation goes all the way to the top. They tell another story about Barbara, a senior partner at a leading global professional services firm. She's at the peak of her career, with deep client relationships she’s built over decades. Jackson: Okay, so she's the opposite of Dolores. She has power, influence, success. Olivia: You'd think so. But she confesses, "I feel like a cog in the machine." Her success is no longer about her unique insights or relationships. It's about selling vast, global, pre-packaged processes that no single person can truly own. She's become an instrument for the firm's system. Jackson: Wow. So even the senior partner feels like a tool. That’s a powerful indictment of the system. But isn't this just the price of efficiency in a global economy? Companies need to make these tough calls to stay competitive. Olivia: And that's the exact assumption the book wants to shatter. The authors bring in Aristotle, who argued that the goal of life isn't just to be efficient; it's to flourish. The Greek word is eudaimonia. It means living a good, fulfilling life by developing your character and using your reason. They ask a radical question: what if the purpose of a business wasn't just to maximize profit, but to be a place where humans can flourish? Jackson: A workplace designed for eudaimonia. That sounds incredible, but also wildly idealistic. How does that even begin to work when you have quarterly targets and shareholder demands? Olivia: It starts by completely rethinking the core engine of business: strategy.

Jackson: Okay, so if the goal is flourishing, that must completely change how we think about strategy. It can't just be about crushing the competition and winning at all costs. Olivia: Exactly. The book argues that modern strategy is built on a deeply pessimistic view of humanity. It's all about 'sustainable competitive advantage,' which is a fancy way of saying 'how can we build a moat to keep everyone else out and capture all the value for ourselves?' It’s a zero-sum game. Jackson: It’s the 'us against the world' mentality. To illustrate this, the authors describe a classic business simulation called Fishbanks, which they run with their students. Olivia: Tell me about it. I have a feeling it doesn't end well for the fish. Jackson: Not at all. The students are divided into groups, each running a fishing company. They have to manage a shared resource—the ocean. The simulation is designed to teach sustainability. But almost every time, the same thing happens. Olivia: Let me guess. A mad scramble for dominance? Jackson: A complete frenzy. The groups see that the biggest fishing fleets are making the most money, so they start bidding aggressively for more ships. The game gets loud, competitive, and ruthless. Even when they're warned that the fish stocks are collapsing, they can't stop. They're trapped in the logic of competition. Olivia: And the fishery collapses. The tragedy of the commons. Jackson: Every single time. They ruin the shared resource. The simulation reveals their deep-seated assumption that success means winning, even if it leads to collective failure. That's the mindset driving so much of modern strategy. Olivia: It's a bleak picture. So what's the alternative? How do you build a strategy around flourishing instead of just winning? Jackson: The book offers a beautiful counter-story: the 'Malbec Miracle' in Argentina. Two decades ago, the Argentine wine industry was a mess. The quality was terrible. Wine makers held grape growers to ransom, distributors squeezed the wine makers, and corruption was rampant. It was a classic 'value capture' system where everyone was trying to get a bigger piece of a shrinking pie. Olivia: Sounds like the Fishbanks game, but with real people. Jackson: Exactly. Then, something shifted. Instead of fighting each other, they decided to pursue a shared goal: establish Malbec as a global brand that would benefit everyone. It was a move from value capture to value creation. Olivia: How did they do it? Jackson: Through collaboration. Distributors agreed to a code of conduct. The local government supported the growers. Universities contributed research. And most importantly, the entire sector collectively funded a global marketing campaign that promoted 'Malbec' as a brand, putting the collective good ahead of any single producer. Olivia: And it worked. Argentine Malbec is everywhere now. Jackson: It became a global phenomenon. They created a much bigger pie for everyone to share. The authors connect this to a Buddhist perspective on strategy—one that emphasizes interdependence and compassion over the illusion of a separate, competitive self. It’s a profound shift from 'us against the world' to 'we are all in this together.' Olivia: That collaborative spirit requires a totally different kind of leadership, though. It's not about being the general on the hill, directing troops. It's something else entirely. Jackson: Right. And that's where the book gets really counter-intuitive. It argues we need to throw out our modern ideas of what a leader even does.

Olivia: This is the part of the book that really challenges the corporate buzzwords we hear every day. Words like 'empowerment,' 'engagement,' and 'corporate values.' Jackson: Let's start with engagement. Every company I've ever worked for has been obsessed with the annual engagement survey. It's this massive, stressful event. Olivia: The book is ruthless about this. It argues that engagement surveys are often a trap. They're based on the premise that employees are disengaged and that management needs to 'fix' them. The survey itself creates anxiety and reinforces the hierarchy. Jackson: It’s a tool of control, not connection. The book introduces a much more powerful idea from the philosopher Martin Buber: the difference between an "I-It" relationship and an "I-Thou" relationship. Olivia: Okay, break that down for me. That sounds very philosophical. Jackson: It's surprisingly simple and profound. An "I-It" relationship is when you treat another person as an object, a thing to be used, measured, or managed. Think of a manager looking at their team on a spreadsheet, tracking their KPIs. That's "I-It." Olivia: Right. They're a resource, a means to an end. Jackson: Exactly. An "I-Thou" relationship, which Buber calls an 'encounter,' is when you relate to the other person in their full, unpredictable, unmanageable humanity. You see them as a whole person, not just their role or function. It’s a genuine, open, human-to-human connection. Olivia: And the book argues that the leader's job isn't to 'drive engagement'—which is an "I-It" activity—but to create the conditions for 'encounter.' Jackson: Yes! And they tell an incredible story to make this real. It's about a man named John, an IT manager at a social enterprise. He was asked to support Robert, a man with a learning disability, in the IT department. Olivia: And I'm guessing John's initial reaction was... less than enthusiastic. Jackson: He flat-out refused. He saw it as a distraction. In his mind, Robert was an 'It'—a problem, a task he didn't have time for. But his colleagues persisted, and John reluctantly agreed. The first week, he didn't give Robert tasks. He just spent time with him, learning about his passion for cameras and gaming. He started building a relationship. Olivia: He shifted from "I-It" to "I-Thou." Jackson: He did. And the transformation was stunning. Robert, who had been seen as someone who needed help, started fixing small computer problems. He learned new skills. He eventually became a highly skilled and valued IT engineer. But the encounter changed John even more. He saw Robert not as a disability, but as a capable, whole person. That experience ignited a new passion in him. John eventually became the CEO of that social enterprise. Olivia: Wow. That's not a story about 'managing engagement.' That's a story about human transformation. It happened because one person was willing to step out of their role and have a genuine encounter with another. Jackson: And that's the book's ultimate challenge to leaders. Stop trying to manage people. Stop trying to force 'buy-in' or improve survey scores. Instead, create the space for real, authentic, human encounters to happen.

Olivia: When you put all these pieces together, the book is really a powerful rebellion against the modern corporate 'system.' Jackson: Absolutely. It argues that leadership isn't about perfecting the machine or being the smartest person in the room with all the answers. It’s about creating the human conditions for people to flourish, often in spite of the system. Olivia: The authors challenge us to stop asking, 'How do I engage my people?' and start asking a much more vulnerable question: 'What am I doing that gets in the way of my already-engaged people?' Jackson: And that leads to an even deeper question. It’s not just about getting out of the way. It’s about actively creating something. The real question is, 'Am I creating space for genuine human encounter in my organization?' Olivia: That is a powerful question to take back to your own team, your own life. It shifts the focus from control to connection, from efficiency to flourishing. Jackson: It really does. And it’s a challenge for all of us. We'd love to hear what you think. Have you ever had a workplace 'encounter' that changed you? Join the conversation and share your stories with the Aibrary community. Olivia: This is Aibrary, signing off.