Page 176 - The Resilient Organization

Postcard No. 1 from the Silicon Valley, California 163

individuals who signed up with their own digital fund-raising center. They
could set their own fund-raising goals, customize their own fund-raising
appeals, and manage their own e-mail contact lists to make solicitations for
money on behalf of the campaign. The money they raised fed directly to the
Dean campaign. Thus the amateur community was able to significantly
contribute to the fund-raising activities of the campaign, building early
credibility through strong financial results when the campaign was still con-
sidered one without any real credibility (see, for example, the Economist,
“Cut from the Same Cloth,” November 29, 2003).

ARE WE ALL AMATEURS NOW?

Amateurism taps our inner strength by inviting us to show what we really
care about: putting our efforts where our passions lie. Not all of these
efforts bear fruit or are competitive (we all are familiar with someone who
really likes to help but cannot). Also, amateurism is no panacea; instead, it
is like time management, servant leadership, and other managerial
approaches that are generally useful but not the absolute or final cures for
complex problems in organizations.
Amateurism is most suited for task environments that require taking
risks and making discoveries. Organizations must be reliable and commit-
ted to routine, but these same qualities destroy innovativeness. While the
intent, and often the effect, of bureaucratic controls is to add to reliability,
the same measures reduce the autonomy of employees and volunteers and
also the free reign to make choices when personal initiative and inner com-
mitment are most desired.
In this age when professionalism is so dominant, amateur creativity and
effort bring forth new ideas, as well as playful energy that animates organi-
zational routines. Today’s leadership challenge for resilience is learning to
manage the independent thinkers who emerge within this new amateurism.