Table Of Contentchapter 1/b 2/5/01 3:11 pm Page 1
chapter 1/b 2/5/01 3:11 pm Page 1
C O R P O R A T E
[ s d f l x c v b
chapter 1/b 2/5/01 3:11 pm Page 2
chapter 1/b 2/5/01 3:11 pm Page 3
C O R P O R A T E
PRINCIPLES FOR BUSINESS
MAVERICKS AND MAGICIANS
RENE CARAYOL and DAVID FIRTH
C A P S T O N E
chapter 1/b 2/5/01 3:11 pm Page 5
Introduction
A message from René and David
Out of this world the establishment, those who were in a position
Many Priests were either killed or imprisoned, of authority – did not have.
and their shrines destroyed, because of the threat
they posed to Euro-Christian/Muslim dominion. From the 1600s until the close of the
This forced some of the Dahomeans to form eighteenth century, between eleven and fifteen
Vodou Orders and to create underground societies, million black people were removed from Africa
in order to continue the veneration of their by the slave trade.
ancestors, and the worship of their powerful gods.
West African Dahomean Vodoun: Historical background Voodoo was a way for its practitioners to get
http://spiritnetwork.com back to something natural, instinctual,
reverential – something earthy and elemental,
The word Voodoo means ‘mystery’. something with a bite and a rhythm and a
groove to it, something hot, something joyful,
Voodoo was a secret – or rather was driven into something that would make you shout out
being a secret by those who would rather it loud, something that could transport you back
didn’t exist. home.
Voodoo was access to knowledge, power and Corporate Voodoo offers a similar promise.
enlightenment that the majority –
chapter 1/b 2/5/01 3:11 pm Page 6
In the world Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet
Life is a mystery. Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly
normal, thank you very much. They were the last
Business is a mystery too. ‘The old certainties people you’d expect to be involved in anything
don’t apply’, we were told so often by the gurus strange or mysterious, because they just didn’t
of the 1990s. Then the dotcom economy hold with such nonsense.
emerged and gave a huge, shocking glimpse of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone,J.K. Rowling
a world where the old certainties were not just
inapplicable but blown away, really and truly The thing is, it’s in the house. The strange and
blown away. And then, come August 2000, the mysterious is in the house. The Dursleys, who
dotcom bubble seemed to burst. But have we resist life in all its fullness, are nevertheless the
gone back to where we were, to what we knew guardians of Harry, wizard of great fame,
before? No. We remain in a stressful, speeding someone who once conquered death and crippled
world, breathless excitement and limitless a devilish foe.The magic is with us, would we
possibility in one moment matched by just see it.
breakdown, confusion and insecurity the next.
It’s a world crying out for peace and self- Corporate Voodoo is the gateway to a magical
knowledge. The spirituality and self-help world.
industry is on a roll. It’s also, strangely, a world
that is crying out for Magic. You’d think, after This book
what we’ve all been through recently, we’d want This book is our way of sharing the ‘secret’
things more certain. But no. knowledge – natural, instinctual, risky,
thrilling, scary – that a few people are
practising today.
chapter 1/b 2/5/01 3:11 pm Page 7
Let’s join with Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling for education and government? That’s the
and call these people Initiates. inquiry of CHAPTERTHREE.
Their magic is a strange mixture, like Voodoo But only part of transformation comes through
itself, of the old and the new. Initiates don’t the work of analysis and vision. Corporate
throw the baby out with the bath water, they Voodoo shamelessly offers pragmatic advice on
don’t have a modernist stance that dismisses what to DO.
any approach that was practised in the past.
Their rule is: work with what works. How can you transform your company into a
Fast one?
Initiates follow the magic and make their
businesses Fast. You’ll see what some have done And how do you as an individual make the
in CHAPTER ONE (though don’t expect anything shift from Muggle to Initiate?
that feels like A Chapter in this book – just go
with the flow, just keep listening, just keep The two essential qualities that most separate
using your imagination instead). Initiates from Muggles in our Voodoo world
are their FEARLESSNESS and their attitude to
People who don’t have the access to the mysterious OTHER HUMAN BEINGS.
world of magic, let’s call them Muggles.
Initiates of Corporate and Personal Voodoo are
Muggles end up making their businesses Slow masters of two common human experiences.
(CHAPTERTWO is the sorry tale of woe).
They have a healthy attitude to failure, seeing it
If more Muggles became Initiates, what as rich in learning and opportunity. Muggles, on
implications would that have for our society, the other hand, engineer their efforts to avoid
chapter 1/b 2/5/01 3:11 pm Page 8
failure or the impact of failure, and thus compress The history of organisations has been the history of
their lives into what is known and predictable. subjugation, conformance, control and micro-
management, not because of any scientific
Initiates engage fully with life and all its surprises. understanding that this produces the most efficient
They know that nothing – good, bad, failure, use of the human resource, but from a deep-seated
success – exists except as a label, a perspective of fear of what might be produced without such
the mind, a point of view. Having faced fear as an confining approaches. If we stop drumming, will
ally, they are therefore grateful for the lessons of the rowers stay in tune? What if we let people be
any experience. And they move on. different? What if we let people be themselves,
rather than what we expected them to be?
Muggles are scared of one thing more than any
other: they are afraid of other human beings. But for now, listen up. Can you hear that
And they hide that fear behind a show of power. music playing..?
Voodoo is suspicious of the neat and tidy answer
chapter 1/b 2/5/01 3:11 pm Page 1
INTRODUCTION / 1
The Spell
Planet Earth...
It is the year – well, it is whatever the year is –
The technological revolution rages on.
New-world rebels representing the networked economy are besieging the old world with the
most sophisticated weaponry ever seen.
The internet
As online populations continue to experience stellar growth, established corporations are being
driven towards electronic business and new media strategies in a last-ditch attempt to adapt.
Old-world traders are being told ‘destroy your business’ and ‘evolve or die’ by the new rebel
leaders. And all those who fail to respond will be mercilessly sacrificed in the new economy.
Little regard is shown to the history of these dominant, commercial leviathans.
However, some of the new-world rebels are also falling from the skies – those who flew too close
to the sun – exemplifying for others the new intolerance of recklessness and ineptitude. They
are being sacrificed for the greater good.
Until now.
chapter 1/b 2/5/01 3:11 pm Page 2
2/ CORPORATE VOODOO
Voodoo
Until Voodoo...
loves the
mess ... a new force and its guardians, sworn to uphold the visionary yet beautifully simple secret of
the force, and to share its rewards.
The team will use the force to mentor, coach and convert old-world giants and headstrong rebel
forces to fly in the new dawn.
The fundamental belief behind Voodoo is that the old world and the new can coexist and
cooperate, by sharing the wisdom of experience with the energy and vigour of youth.
The power of Voodoo.
Description:Why do many companies find it so hard to escape the pull of the past? Why do many individuals keep resorting to learned behaviour, the habits and ideas that may have brought them success in the past, but which will leave them adrift in the fast-moving currents of the new economy? What is the spell t
