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How our attitudes changed to justify income inequality
In 1970, Robert Townsend wrote a book called “Up the Organization: How to Stop the Corporation from Stifling People and Strangling Profits.” Despite having been written nearly 40 years ago, the book is generally acknowledged as one of the most influential business books of all time.
Townsend had gained recognition for helping transform Avis Rent-a-Car into a legitimate competitor to market leader Hertz. His efforts were embodied in the firm’s advertising slogan he championed: “we’re number 2, but we try harder.” In the book, Townsend told the story about how their advertising company could come up with nothing better to say about Avis to contrast it with Hertz.
The book is just like that throughout. I vividly remember reading it although I was quite young when I did so. It was filled with humorous and telling anecdotes that helped Townsend get his points across. When the book first came out, it was a breath of fresh air compared with the stuffy business books of the time.
There was something profound about Townsend’s approach that perhaps bears revisiting today. The title of the book says it all. To Townsend, the goal of managers was to build a successful organization that benefited everyone involved in it. Serving himself came second to that goal. As he wrote, “true leadership must be for the benefit…
