Celebrate #PleaseCallMe judgement; exposes big flaws in corporate structure
The crumbling facade of hierarchical corporation structures took another big hit this week. This time the unlikely David was Please Call Me SMS service inventor Kenneth Makate, victorious in South Africa's Constitutional Court after a long legal battle against telecoms goliath Vodacom. Makate has been magnanimous, even praising his adversary, then Vodacom CEO Alan Knott-Craig, as a "visionary". The ConCourt judges were less complimentary, slamming the telecoms icon and exposing a side of him few knew existed. Seeing this welcome conclusion got me musing about similar instances where individuals with transformative inventions have received little personally, but delivered much for the corporation. Like 39 year old Themba Baloyi, whose persistent championing of an idea created the success story we now know as Discovery Insure. Hopefully Baloyi received something more tangible than the usual corporate pat on his back. With the millions Makate is now likely to receive, those with Baloyi-like ideas will be encouraged to consider their options rather differently. Because the Please Call Me judgement has destroyed a ridiculous notion that just because one-sided contracts say so, corporates own the hearts, souls and even thoughts of their employees. They don't. And the sooner that reality sinks in, the fewer bad things will be done in misguided pursuance of corporate duty by otherwise honourable human beings. People are essentially good. But antiquated corporate structures incentivise them to sometimes do bad things. Worse, they usually get away with it because those being abused feel powerless to defend themselves. Makate's victory sends a strong message. Something which will hopefully accelerate change within the business Goliaths. And embolden those who previously never even considered it, to fight back. – Alec Hogg
By Gareth van Zyl
