UBUNTU! yes it is present at the workplace

As the world changes, and globalization absorbs us, new ideas, concepts, views of things and many, many things come to our knowledge. Some can be seen as great, and others as really bad.

One that can really be seen as great, and very useful in many areas is the Ubuntu philosophy. Why? Because of its main idea of everybody together as a whole. This philosophy of harmony, is very useful in the work environment of a company. Adapting the idea that we are all together as one, is probably the idea for any company, that wants that every employee and every part of the organization works together as one.

We could say that Ubuntu philosophy is present in three aspect in the workplace.

• The way in which individuals relate within the organization and with others. Employees see their partners or co-workers as brothers and sisters, like a family that has to work together in order to grow and evolve. Their relationship are calid and respectful because they treat each other with respect in order to learn from everyone. They treat themselves between them as family members. In other words, the organization is seen as a home which involves a family that has to be united and supportive.

• The way an organization manages time is another aspect of the Ubuntu philosophy. In other cultures time is fragmented and has a price but in this philosophy time is seen as a whole which can be used to have a progress in the community and because of that community progress everyone will also have a live improvement. They don’t have money as a priority, their community is their priority. Everyone has to be and feel good.

• The decision making process is another aspect present in organizational philosophy. For them the collective welfare is the most important thing in the organization. They seek for profitability but as mentioned above they don’t have money as a priority. Their major priority is that everyone within the organization feels good and comfortable. When taking a decision everyone is involved and the most important thing is that it always seeks a favorable result for the community.

We may not even know it, but we probably are using some of Ubuntu's ideas. So you see, Ubuntu is not that unknown to us. For example “A person with Ubuntu is welcoming, hospitable, warm, generous, and willing to share" [1] If you are like this, then probably you have some Ubuntu in you.

References:

• [1] http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/7-22-2006-103206.asp

Image:

• http://www.zazzle.es/ubuntu_soy_porque_somos_camiseta-235421172116721211

METAPHOR

Sometimes, when you want to introduce your product to a new market, the best campaign is not using sexy girls, hot cars, or your typical sexy stuff. Sometimes the best campaign is to make your product mysterious, magical, something that captures people attention in a different way.

Let's say I found a emerald mine, and that I'm going to start to sell this product in Europe, being here where the people that can afford emeralds, and like them are located to a big extent. But I can not sell them as an ordinary Colombian Emerald, because it would be the same product. As you may know, Colombian emeralds are globally known, as very unique and very expensive. But how to sell them in a new way? How about if I create a metaphor of my emeralds being so unique, they are legendary.

I could say the following:

These emeralds used to belong to a powerful indigenous chief, who's secretely in love with the daughter of his enemy, in this case another indigenous chief of another tribe. He couldn't let anybody know, but on every solstice he made sure that the most amazing, mysterious and magical emeralds reached his loved hand, just to let her know how much he loved her. Nobody know what happened to those emeralds, because after a great war, the dissapear, along with the chief and his loved one.

Ok, so know let's see. We have the chief which shows power, money, but making it exotic. Second we have the fact that he is secretely in love with someone he couldn't be. This "traps"the people that are married, in loved, or have a lover, that will give them jewelry. This give an additional emotion to buying the emerald, and finally we have the general which is buying an emerald that has a mystery attach to it, making it more special.

This is a way to sell a product, but obviously using a good marketing campaign that has the general idea of the story.