Companies have presidents, heads of marketing, recruiting and even philanthropy.
Fraternities have presidents, heads of marketing, recruiting and even philanthropy.
Companies have monthly or quarterly all-hands meetings, where the entire company gets together, praises their collective victories and points out areas of improvement.
Fraternities have weekly chapter, where the entire local chapter gets together, praises their collective victories and points out areas of improvement.
Fraternities and companies both share the same central problem, the majority of the people that are responsible for the future success(or failure) do not feel that they individually make a substantial contribution.
If you have ever seen a kitchen in a Fraternity house, it would be instantly apparent that the mess was the collective work of many individuals over time, yet the blame for the entire mess can be placed on nobody. Additionally, many Fraternities suffer from recruitment problems; pledge classes slowly dwindle in size from lack of involvement and deteriorating reputation, and next thing you know the chapter needs to bring in nationals to prevent them from closing.
Similarly, the fall from grace of Fortune 500 companies rarely results from a particular, catastrophic event, and is instead a gradual deterioration in relative quality.
As Seth Godin would put it, the deterioration of both organizations happens gradually and then suddenly.
The simple(but not easy) solution is to make sure your members or employees are actively involved and feel a sense of personal responsibility. Otherwise, you may end up with a messy, or empty, kitchen.
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