The ultimate organization men
The organizational transformation of the religion into a burgeoning social network led to exceptional success in business. Indeed, by the late 20th century, Mormons were leaders in organizational development and other business-transforming fields - with a leading Mormon, Kim B. Clark, a 21st-century dean of the Harvard Business School. Always, they remained loyal to the church organization - in 2005, Clark left Harvard to accept a church call to run a fledgling branch of Brigham Young University. Mormons, in sum, were the original organization men.
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As it turns out, networking and community can be seen to have mattered more to this movement than anomalies of creed or oddities of history. The business ideal and the religious ideal reinforce one another. Theologians count for less than entrepreneurs, belief for less than success. And success feeds upon itself. Outsiders attempting to understand the surprising arrival of the Latter-day Saints can do worse than to think of it as a business model - made perfectly, it turns out, for the 21st century. Made in America.
. . . . . .
As it turns out, networking and community can be seen to have mattered more to this movement than anomalies of creed or oddities of history. The business ideal and the religious ideal reinforce one another. Theologians count for less than entrepreneurs, belief for less than success. And success feeds upon itself. Outsiders attempting to understand the surprising arrival of the Latter-day Saints can do worse than to think of it as a business model - made perfectly, it turns out, for the 21st century. Made in America.
