Flying the Coop

#03 Alfred García: Business should care for the people within it

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“People work better when they believe in what they are working for.” - Alfred Garcia

Alfred is a member of Jamgo, a developer co-op based in Barcelona that has been around for nearly 15 years. On top of that, he lives in a housing co-op. We spoke with him about how a co-op’s structure should be just enough to flex around the complexity of the people within it.

In a co-op, you are an active decision maker. You don’t get to externalize decisions to a boss. You are all the boss, sharing the load together.

It’s like a bunch of entrepreneurs got together, put their hands in, and created Captain Planet (when will they make a Marvel Universe around him? Please bring Captain Planet back).

This interview goes deep.

We get philosophical.

We ask deep questions like:

  • Why is it so hard to ask for help and how can we change that?
  • If profit isn’t just about money, what else can it mean?
  • What does it look like for a business to honor the whole person, not just honor their productivity?
  • What does ‘transparency’ look like in practice?
  • How does equitable compensation work at Jamgo?
  • How does the concept of ‘speed’ change when you look at co-ops? What is slower, what is faster?
  • What is the difference between community-based support and support based in capitalism?

    • We also answer fun questions like “Why is Barcelona so full of co-ops? Is it… the anarchists???”

    Oh yeah, this is a good one.

     

    Action items from this conversation:

    • What does profit mean to your organization?
    • What does ‘transparency’ look like in practice in your organization?
    • How do you celebrate the messiness of life?

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      Listen anywhere podcasts roost.

       

      Watch on YouTube.

      See Alfred’s web for more about him.

      Learn more about Jamgo.

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      Flying the CoopBy Janel Torkington