Tag Archives: complex systems

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Why Conscious Capitalism is Not a New Paradigm

Last week I blogged about my exchange with Steve Denning about conscious capitalism and his claim that it is a “new paradigm” for management. This week I want to discuss the ecological perspective on conscious capitalism and why it is … Continue reading →

Posted in Change, General | Tagged ba, complex systems, conscious capitalism, ecocycle, ecological perspective, edge of chaos, Gore-Tex, Merck, O'Toole, paradigm, Patagonia, sweet zone, Vogel, W.L. Gore & Associates, Whole Foods | Comments Off on Why Conscious Capitalism is Not a New Paradigm

False Wizards Part II: A Plague of Paradigms

The English economist John Kay contends that the word “paradigm” is “the most overworked and abused term in the study of management.” I agree with him completely and must confess that I cringe every time I see the latest management … Continue reading →

Posted in Change, General | Tagged Anglo-Saxon capitalism, Cadbury, change, community, complex systems, Costco, crisis, customer, employee, Forbes, Fry, goals, John Mackey, life cycle, Mary Parker Follett, Nonconformists, paradigm, power, principles, Quakers, reason, Robert E. Wood, Rowntree, scale, Sears, shareholder, Steve Denning, trust, values, W.L. Gore, Whole Foods | 2 Comments

False Wizards: Why I Don’t Believe in Management Gurus

The late historian, Daniel Boorstin, once said, “Trying to plan for the future without a sense of the past is like trying to plant cut flowers.” That is, planners and managers (politicians too) should not try to replicate desirable organizational … Continue reading →

Posted in Change, General, Leadership | Tagged abstraction, Amazon, Apple, both...and, cause-and-effect, change, Cisco, complex systems, context, Costco, cut flowers, Daniel Boorstin, democracy, ecocycle, ecological perspective, either/or, Fast Company, Fritz Roethlisberger, Juniper, management gurus, management principles, MBA, Microsoft, Middle East, paradigm, Polly La Barre, power, Salesforce, sweet zone, The New Ecology of Leadership, trust, verbal wands, Whole Foods, Zara | 3 Comments

New Year Resolutions: “What Do I Do Differently on Monday Morning?”

New Year is a good time to discuss changing behavior. At this time of year there is lots of talk about new resolutions, “starting with clean slates” and “turning over new leaves”. Very little of this will turn into action. … Continue reading →

Posted in Change, General | Tagged change, complex systems, Congress, ecological perspective, fiscal cliff, New Year resolutions, Sandy Hook | 2 Comments

The Drucker Forum: A Bridge from the Past to the Future

Today I am headed to Vienna to take part in the 4th Global Drucker Forum, where an essay I wrote earlier this year has won second prize in the manager/entrepreneur category. The Drucker Global Essay Challenge has two categories – … Continue reading →

Posted in Change, General, Leadership, Strategy | Tagged Bob Lutz, budgets, change, complex systems, Drucker Essay Challenge, Drucker Forum, ecological perspective, ecological rationality, ecologics, Honda, logical positivism, MBO, performance management, Peter Drucker, power, self-control, shareholder value model, social ecology, The New Ecology of Leadership, trust | 2 Comments

The Ecology of Health Care: in Sickness and in Health

Health care in America is in a horrible mess, the lair of what complexity theorists call “wicked problems”. A recent article in Wired magazine described it as “a morass, a quagmire, a slough of policy despond”. As every one knows, … Continue reading →

Posted in Change, General, Leadership, Strategy | Tagged change, community, complex systems, complexity theory, ecocycle, ecological perspective, ecosystem, healthcare, industry rollup, means and ends, private-equity, systems theory, The New Ecology of Leadership, upcode, vertical integration, wicked problems | 2 Comments

Drucker Forum: Capitalism 2.0 – New Horizons for Managers: Asking the Right Questions

The Drucker Forum, which is taking place in Vienna from November 15 to 16, is now only a month away. It promises to be an excellent conference, with exciting speakers and the promise of great discussions. There will be some … Continue reading →

Posted in Change, General | Tagged Adrian Wooldridge, Anglo-Saxon capitalism, Bent Flyvbjerg, CEO pay, change, Chicago Booth, complex systems, Fixing the Game, Global Drucker Forum, Gretchen Morgenson, hedge-fund, Masters of Management, Peter Drucker, power, private-equity, Roger Martin, Steven Kaplan, Walter Bagehot | 1 Comment

From Machines to Plants: Wandering in The Gardens of Democracy

In The New Ecology of Leadership I draw an extended, disciplined analogy between the cycle of an ecosystem (my favourite is a fire-dependent, lodge-pole pine forest) and the trajectories that organizations follow as they go through their lives. The objective … Continue reading →

Posted in Change, General | Tagged complex systems, destruction, ecological perspective, ecology, economics, Eric Liu, Gardenbrain, Gardens of Democracy, government, hedge-funds, Machinebrain, means and ends, Nick Hanauer, politics, Second Enlightenment, The New Ecology of Leadership | Comments Off on From Machines to Plants: Wandering in The Gardens of Democracy

Recipe for Ruin: Nothing Lasts Unless It Is Incessantly Renewed

Over the weekend a comment on a management blog referred to a piece by management writer Steve Denning in Forbes magazine. Entitled “The Key Missing Ingredient in Leadership Today”, it argued that real leadership is all about transforming systems, not … Continue reading →

Posted in Change, General, Leadership | Tagged Apocalypse Now, bureaucracy, coercive bureaucracy, complex systems, context, creativity, crisis, Denning, Deresiewicz, destruction, discipline, ecological perspective, enabling bureaucracy, Forbes, Francis Ford Coppola, freedom, Heart of Darkness, hierarchy, identity, innovation, Joseph Conrad, know-how, know-what, means and ends, modular, narrative, power, renewal, ruin, Toyota Production System, West Point | Comments Off on Recipe for Ruin: Nothing Lasts Unless It Is Incessantly Renewed

Tattoos That Fit: Barclays, LIBOR, Culture and Regulation

The questioning of Barclays Bank’s Bob Diamond by the U.K. Parliamentary Committee on the LIBOR rate fixing scandal a couple of weeks ago was riveting. The unflappable Diamond deflected the MPs queries with a practised ease despite mounting evidence of … Continue reading →

Posted in General | Tagged Anglo-Saxon capitalism, banking, Barclays, Bob Diamond, community, complex systems, context, culture, ecological process, gift economy, integrity, LIBOR, management ethics, Quakers, rate-fixing, regulation, Society of Friends, values | Comments Off on Tattoos That Fit: Barclays, LIBOR, Culture and Regulation ← Older posts Newer posts →