Tag Archives: narrative

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Why Business Books Still Speak Volumes

It’s easy to be critical of business books. What had been a dull cottage industry until the publication of Tom Peters; and Bob Waterman’s In Search of Excellence (1982) became an exuberant enterprise that churns out a vast number of … Continue reading →

Posted in General | Tagged business books, management, meaning, narrative | Comments Off on Why Business Books Still Speak Volumes

Changing Our Models of Change: Nothing Lasts Unless It Is Incessantly Renewed”

In a blog last year, Matthew Taylor, Chief Executive of the Royal Society of the Arts wrote “Ideas about social and economic reform are only as useful as the model of change that goes with them.” I agree completely. We … Continue reading →

Posted in Change, General | Tagged Anglo-Saxon capitalism, blueprints, change, complex systems, ecocycle, ecological perspective, efficiency, engineering, Jonathan Haidt, Kurt Lewin, Matthew Taylor, narrative, objectivity, passion, power, reason, roadmap, RSA, servants of power, shareholder value, trust, unfreeze-change-refreeze | Comments Off on Changing Our Models of Change: Nothing Lasts Unless It Is Incessantly Renewed”

The Ecodynamics of Donald Trump: Can The Centre Hold?

The rise of Donald Trump has been a puzzle to many political pundits and a shock to observers around the world. What explains his appeal and his ability to mobilize people who, for a long time have felt excluded from … Continue reading →

Posted in Change, General, Leadership | Tagged Bernie Sanders, Carrier, change, destruction, Donald Trump, ecological perspective, ecosystem, Hillary Clinton, Indianapolis, Lawrence Lessig, Mancur Olson, Mexico, narrative, Norman Orenstein, political ecology, Republican Party, social ecology, Thomas Mann | Comments Off on The Ecodynamics of Donald Trump: Can The Centre Hold?

Don’t Throw the Past Away: Rediscovering the “Drucker Space”

For Peter Drucker history was an essential resource. Commentators have described the scope of his writings as “Braudelian” in honor of the work of historian, Fernand Braudel, the leader of the French Annales school of history, renowned for its broad, … Continue reading →

Posted in Change, General | Tagged American Dream, Boorstin, change, Drucker Forum, Drucker Space, efficiency, European Enlightenment, Frederick Taylor, Leon Wieseltier, meaning, means and ends, narrative, Peter Drucker, Postman, Progress, purpose, Radowitz, Stahl, Technopoly, The New Republic, Wilhelm von Humboldt | Comments Off on Don’t Throw the Past Away: Rediscovering the “Drucker Space”

Strategy as the Creation of Power: The Lion versus the Fox

This week my blog consists of the review I wrote for Strategy+Business of Lawrence Freedman’s Strategy – a History: Lawrence Freedman defines strategy as the central political art. “It is about getting more out of a situation than the starting … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Strategy | Tagged Albion Small, annihilation, attrition, Clausewitz, cunning, David, fox, Goliath, Greeks, improvisation, Kahneman, Lawrence Freedman, lion, Machiavelli, narrative, Odysseus, performance, Romans, script, strategy, strength, Trojan Horse | Comments Off on Strategy as the Creation of Power: The Lion versus the Fox

Exploring The Ecology of Leadership: the Power of Analogical Thinking

I spent the past week in California working with a senior management team from a large global corporation as part of their extensive executive development program. This was my third time with the same organization and I had worked hard … Continue reading →

Posted in Change, General, Leadership, Strategy | Tagged abduction, alignment, analogical thinking, analogy, change, choice, commitment, complex systems, creativity, crisis, direction, ecocycle, ecological perspective, executive development, image, leadership culture, Leadership Metaphor Explorer, metaphor, narrative, The New Ecology of Leadership, Visual Explorer, wicked systems | Comments Off on Exploring The Ecology of Leadership: the Power of Analogical Thinking

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

Pope Francis – the Undercover Boss: “Sell your desk!”

The Undercover Boss is a television franchise that began in the UK in 2009, but has since spread to many other countries. It features the experiences of senior executives working incognito as entry-level employees in their own companies to see … Continue reading →

Posted in Change, Leadership, Strategy | Tagged almoner, careerism, Catholic Church, commodity, community, customers, entrepreneurial spirit, Krajewski, narrative, network, opportunity, Person of the Year, productivity, spirit of capitalism, Time, Vatican | 2 Comments

European Union: If You Have Them By Their Wallets, Will Their Hearts and Minds Follow?

Last Thursday I was the opening speaker at the International Forum for Future Europe held November 7- 8 in Vilnius, Lithuania. The theme of the conference was Sustainable Development and Harmonious Society and the title of my talk was “European … Continue reading →

Posted in Change, General, Leadership, Strategy | Tagged buy-in, change, Charles de Gaulle, community, complex systems, ecocycle, ecological perspective, ECSC, European community, European integration, European Union, French army, means and ends, Moebius strip, narrative, national identity, Nigel Farage, power, power trap, Thirty Year War, Tony Judt, UKIP, Vilnius | 1 Comment

Organic and Mechanical Approaches to Complex Systems

The last week a blog I wrote for the Harvard Business Review and the Drucker Forum was published on the HBR site. It brought together a number of issues that I have been talking about in the past few months … Continue reading →

Posted in Change, General, Leadership, Strategy | Tagged change, Cirque du Soleil, constructive, creativity, critical, Drucker Forum, ecological perspective, ecology, engineering, guba, innovation, Iraq, Kim, lincoln, Mauborgne, narrative, philosophy, positives, reverse-engineer, success factors, The New Ecology of Leadership | Comments Off on Organic and Mechanical Approaches to Complex Systems ← Older posts Newer posts →