“We are not a democracy.” This used to be the stock response of a former colleague of mine whenever it was suggested that staff be consulted on a proposal.
In the business world, law firm partnerships are about as close as you can get to a democracy. This has its obvious drawbacks for those actually trying to get anything done – and in recent years the leading UK firms have devoted a lot of time and energy to trying to get the right balance between executive decision-making and rule by ballot paper.
