Lately, I’ve been thinking about bottom up vs. top down, first with my work with A Bigger Voice, and then with conversations with coaching clients who have hit the glass ceiling.

Bottom up seems to be what’s up for others as well. This month’s Fast Company magazine has an article about evolutionary economics–how the business landscape isn’t controlled from the top as much as we think it is, and how smart companies focus on customers, instead of government bailouts.

And later in the same issue, an article about Chicago and what makes it great has this quote,

"We’re conscious of what made Chicago great. We have a historical reputation to uphold. This is the city of Sam Cooke, Curtis Mayfield, Lou Rawls. It’s from the ground up."

We live in a world where a single lone voice can connect to others to make a difference. Top down is still powerful and with technology, becoming more limited when compared to the wisdom of crowds, users, consumers, customers. Or as Dan Pink has said, citizens.