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Monthly Archives: April 2014

Climate Change and Evidence-based Management: An Ecological Perspective [Part I]

In the Wall Street Journal over the weekend, British science writer Matt Ridley wrote another one of his provocative essays around his theme of “rational optimism”. [In 2010 Ridley wrote a book, The Rational Optimist, which I reviewed for Strategy+Business.] … Continue reading →

Posted in Change, General | Tagged Clayton Christensen, data, ecological perspective, ecology, economics, innovation, judgement, Matt Ridley, Northern Rock, prediction, resources | Comments Off on Climate Change and Evidence-based Management: An Ecological Perspective [Part I]

Economics as a Moral Science and the Capitalist Dilemma: An Ecological Perspective

As I mentioned last week, Kenneth Boulding was and is my favourite economist and I was reminded again of his work when I came across a New York Times article on capitalism and the Dalai Lama. In it His Holiness … Continue reading →

Posted in Change, General | Tagged Adam Smith, Alfred Marshall, capitalist dilemma, Clayton Christensen, Dalai Lama, ecocycle, economics, evolutionary perspective, exchange, integration, Jeffrey Pfeffer, John Dewey, Kenneth Boulding, Maynard Keynes, Milton Friedman, moral science, Paul Samuelson, Pitirim Sorokin, real world economics, threat | Comments Off on Economics as a Moral Science and the Capitalist Dilemma: An Ecological Perspective

Don’t Throw the Past Away

The late Kenneth Boulding, environmental advisor to JFK and one of my favourite economists, once said that “Anyone who believes in indefinite growth in anything physical, on a physically finite planet, is either mad – or an economist.” I used … Continue reading →

Posted in Change, General | Tagged ancestor, ecocycle, Erik Erikson, generation gap, identity, Kamloops, Kenneth Boulding, narrative, Northrop Frye, psychosocial development, retirement, Rotary, sustainability, William Blake | Comments Off on Don’t Throw the Past Away

The Nature of Uncertainty: Hunting Black Swans

This past week I gave the opening keynote at the 2014 Conference Board meeting on Enterprise Risk Management. It gave me an opportunity to bring an ecological perspective to risk and uncertainty as well as allowing me to promote The … Continue reading →

Posted in Change, General, Leadership, Strategy | Tagged algorithm, black swans, Cohen and Gooch, Confucius, COSO, Enterprise Risk Management, George Box, Guntram Werther, Jung, Kant, knowledge, Michael Mauboussin, models, Nassim Taleb, pattern, phronesis, risk, syncretic thinking, T-shaped, uncertainty, understanding | Comments Off on The Nature of Uncertainty: Hunting Black Swans

Exploring Leadership Using Metaphors

Last week I spent a day-and-a-half with a group of senior managers from a large global company discussing leadership. The company faces all the challenges one might expect it to face – globalization, digitization, cross-cultural difficulties and so on in … Continue reading →

Posted in Change, General, Leadership, Strategy | Tagged budget, CCL, Chuck Palus, David Horth, ecological perspective, financial forecasting, Leadership Metaphor Explorer, mental model, metaphor, performance management, The New Ecology of Leadership, Visual Explorer, VUCA | Comments Off on Exploring Leadership Using Metaphors