Customer Reviews

Corporate Cults: The Insidious Lure of the All-Consuming Organization

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The image of the tattoo on the man's head was a little radical for me, and I have to say that it took a while to even pick this book up. I'm very glad I did, however. I noticed that a previous reviewer (or two) became very defensive in their explanation of what a wonderful situation it is to belong to a corporate cult. Like the frog, enjoying the warm water, but slowly boiled after gradual temperature increase, you poor people never even saw it coming. Of course the company provides everything you could possibly need. Of course they reward you for five, ten and fifteen years perfect attendance. Why ever leave the property, when you have a place to eat, take your children, exercise (and yes, even sleep). The joke on the "team" I worked was that we only went home to change clothes. That could be addressed as well, with lockers in the fitness center. Eventually, your entire life is with the company, and this is the danger. Work needs to stay at work, and home at home. When the lines are blurred, I guarantee your life will fall apart. Depend upon it. You may have met your spouse there, take your kids to daycare there, have breakfast and lunch with all your friends there, but at some point, you will realize the high price you've paid. They are taking care of business, not you. They really do not care about you at all. When you retire after 40 years of service while holding your pencil set engraved with the corporate emblem, the question I want you to ask yourself is this: Were the trinkets and certificates worth it? Are you a better person for sacrificing your whole life to show your loyalty and thankfulness? Did all your bowing and scraping pay off? Have you realized your full potential at the expense of your marriage, your children and your sanity (...Although they did come through on hospitalization costs after your nervous breakdown.)? Did you make the right decision?

While many organizations wrestle with the challenge of retention and loyalty, some organizations, according to Arnott, achieve a dysfunctional degree of control over employees. The author finds parallels between the traits that define a cult-devotion, charismatic leadership, and separation from community-and the characteristics of 'best places to work' namely, sense of purpose, inspiring leadership, and knockout facilities. Arnott finds an unhealthy, insidious physical, emotional and psychological relationship between individual and organization involving the use of manipulative and controlling tactics. The organization displays something like the gravitational power of a 'black hole' into which the light of individualism is drawn.

Conversely, some people have a dysfunctional dependency upon their work and corporate community for their identity and psychological needs; they are willingly absorbed into the closed organizational 'black hole.' The author thoughtfully explores the dynamics of the "when work becomes life" cult phenomenon, its effects on family and community, and advice on how to avoid the cult trap.

All organizations have some cultedness; using Arnott's cult test, people can find least cult-like places to work. This book is a timely, and extremely absorbing and provocative work. Highly recommended. Reviewed by Gerry Stern, founder, Stern & Associates, author of Stern's Sourcefinder: The Master Directory to HR and Business Management Information & Resources, Stern's CyberSpace SourceFinder, and the Compensation and Benefits SourceFinder.

What if the organization that you worked for found a way to provide you with all of your human needs, including your meals, social companionship, growth, and even personal meaning? Before you sign up, you might want to heed Dave Arnott's warning that you could be walking into a cult.

I found Arnott's treatment of corporate life to be somewhat biased by his thesis that organizations, particularly those labeled as "great places to work," operate like intentionally manipulative cults. The book takes a number of organizational innovations, such as wellness centers and other on-site conveniences designed to make life easier for employees, and spins them into an evil spider's web designed to trap employees into the organizational version of a cult.

While the book provides a very thorough description of the major elements of a cult and how these elements exist to some degree in a number of organizations, it downplays the need for organizations to offer incentives, such as providing on-site day care, wellness centers and dining facilities, in order to attract and retain highly talented employees.

In the end, however, the book does challenge the reader to question the potential downside of organizations who provide such lavish incentives to keep people on their payrolls. Is there a danger that organizations could go too far in their competition for the best and brightest employees?

In an age where organizations are examining ways to tap into the more emotional and spiritual sides of employees, it is a question worth pondering...

Some eye-opening insights into corporate life in the late 20th Century, and fascinating reading whether you're in a corporate cult or not. I loved the Cult Test. Are you sure you're not working for a corporate cult? This test will tell you.

Although Arnott creates a striking comparison between cults and major corporations, it seems that he is trying to spin corporate life to fit his thesis -- like fitting square pegs in round holes. There is a certain defensive tone to his writing that I find oddly childish, given his credentials.

I discovered several factual errors in the book, and I think his visits to the companies he mentions and the employee interviews he conducted were more "whistle-stops" than fact-finding missions. (I feel sorry for the Southwest Airlines employee he dismissed after using the word "we" -- isn't it possible she was talking about her family and not her workplace?) And to cite USAA as an example of "separation from community" is laughable. Anyone in this city knows that USAA is an integral part of the community, not an ivory tower.

Too bad -- with better research, this book could've provided a interesting counterpoint to all the books about excellence in the workplace.

The cover of this book doesn't really seem to go with the content. The author obviously wants to worry people, to make them aware that Western culture's idea of you=your job is a bad thing. And I agree. This isn't a fault that corporate America has imposed on the world; this is the market adapting to existing societal conditions. People don't live in the same house or same neighborhood all their lives, so they don't develop relationships with their neighbors. Churches are having trouble finding and keeping members. Society values work over these things, so it isn't too surprising when employers begin to fill the needs that are not being met in the workers' personal lives. I, personally, would love to work for an employer who actually cared about my well-being and valued my hard work enough to supply a gym, child care, visiting massage therapists, etc. The author's cause-and-effect theory on this phenomena seems backwards from the reality of life.

This is written by someone who has obviously never felt the thrill of being successful and satisfied in a job. Corporations need to provide environments where individuals can be the best they can be, while advancing their own personal as well as the corporation's goals. This guy would have us all working in cubicles with institutional green on the walls, and 10 minute pee breaks at scheduled intervals. Professor of Management? My corporation ain't gonna consult with him.