The 4th. sector - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog

The 4th. sector - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog I was at a conference monday on the fourth sector. In case you havent heard about this term, the fourth sector is a way of organizing that combines the best of the three existing sectors, ie. private industry, governments and volunteer organizations. Fourth sector organizations compete in the market like private companies, they work for a good cause and they often rely on a high degree of volunteerism. And this is precisely true of the happy at work project. We make our money just like any other consulting company out there (we havent recieved a dime of public money, and we dont want any). We strive to make people happy at work. Thats why were here. And were a volunteer organization, where everyone interested can join and contribute towards the cause. The conference was arranged by my good friends over at grasshoppers.dk and was refreshingly different, with nice little touches like a clown welcoming guests and yoga-breaks throughout. My main learning from the conference was, that the term fourth sector is flawed. There is no new sector and the organizations exhibiting fourth sector traits are found in the traditional three sectors. A fine example would be Kjaer Group, a danish company comitted to making a difference. Theyre definitely a private company making money in the market, but they also work to make a difference in the world, individually and together. So rather than being a matter of sector its a matter of intent or approach. Heres my definition of a fourth sector organization: A fourth sector organization, is one that does not see a contradiction between making a profit, improving the world and working voluntarily. So all we need now is a better term than fourth sector. Any ideas? Thanks for visiting my blog. If you're new here, you should check out this list of my 10 most popular articles. And if you want more great tips and ideas you should check out our newsletter about happiness at work. It's great and it's free :-)Share this:LinkedInFacebookTwitterRedditPinterest Related