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Monthly Archives: July 2013

T-shaped People: Deduction, Induction, Abduction and Systems Thinking

Posted on July 30, 2013 by David

IDEO, the design and innovation firm, prizes what they call “T-shaped” individuals. These are people with a deep expertise in one field or domain (the vertical stroke of the “T”) and some expertise across several, often dissimilar, domains (the horizontal … Continue reading →

Posted in Change, General, Leadership, Strategy | Tagged abduction, analogical, analytical, bottom-up, Charles Sanders Peirce, complex systems, creativity, deduction, ecological perspective, IDEO, induction, innovation, leveraged action, systems, T-shaped, thinking, top-down | Comments Off

Is Conscious Capitalism A Conceptual Mess?

Posted on July 23, 2013 by David

Conscious Capitalism (CC) is featured prominently in the latest issue of the California Management Review (CMR) (Spring 2013, Vol. 55 No. 3.). In an article entitled “Conscious Capitalism Firms: Do They Behave as Their Proponents Say?”, Chong Wang, an Assistant … Continue reading →

Posted in Change, General, Leadership, Strategy | Tagged Anglo-Saxon capitalism, Aristotle, Chong Wang, complex systems, conscious capitalism, ecological perspective, innovation, Karl Popper, Max Weber, narrative, Raj Sisodia, The New Ecology of Leadership, Whole Foods | 1 Comment

Complexity and the Plexus Institute: The Critical Role of Intuition in Action and Thought

Posted on July 16, 2013 by David

Last Friday I took part in an online discussion of The New Ecology of Leadership arranged by The Plexus Institute. The institute describes itself as “an intertwined community of diverse people–scientists, business executives, nurses, artists, teachers, journalists, researchers, physicians, college … Continue reading →

Posted in General | Tagged Dan Sperber, ecological rationality, Felix Ankel, Ger Gigerenzer, Hugo Mercier, intuition, Jonathan Haidt, paradigm, plexus, Plexus Institute, principles, rationalist illusion, The New Ecology of Leadership, wicked problems | Comments Off

Changing Behaviour Without Changing Minds: the case of the Stockholm congestion charge

Posted on July 9, 2013 by David

Pioneering management writer, Mary Parker Follett (1868-1933), was one of the first to make the argument that in practices like management we act our way into better ways of thinking rather more easily than the other way around. In 1924 … Continue reading →

Posted in Change | Tagged analyze-think-change, change, congestion charge, ecological perspective, ecological rationality, Jerry Sternin, John Kotter, Jonas Eliasson, London, Mary Parker Follett, Nudge, positive deviance, see-feel-change, Stockholm | 1 Comment

Lessons from Another Wildfire Tragedy: Nature Bats Last

Posted on July 2, 2013 by David

The tragic death over the weekend of nineteen firefighters fighting a fierce wildfire in defence of the town of Yarnell, Arizona is a reminder of the perils of building structures on top of processes. This week’s blog is based on … Continue reading →