For the vast majority of us, debate is familiar because we live in debate cultures (of what Deborah Tannen calls ‘argument cultures’). Continue reading
Organisational & Social Transformation
The Celestine Insights – James Redfield
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Sam Walton’s 10 Rules for Building a Successful Business
Sam Walton 1918 – 1992
Sam Walton, the founder of Wal-Mart, grew up poor in a farm community in rural Missouri during the Great Depression. The poverty he experienced while growing up taught him the value of money and to persevere. Continue reading
Inquiry precedes Advocacy
The general rule is this: inquiry precedes advocacy. If you (1) are uncertain about having reliable, complete information; Continue reading
Trust based , Self Managed Teams
At their best, the units in good trust-based organizations hardly have to be managed, but they do need a multiplicity of leaders. I once teased an English audience by comparing a team of Englishmen to a rowing crew on the river – eight men going backward as fast as they can without talking to each other, steered by the one person who can’t row! I thought it quite witty at the time, but I was corrected after the session by one of the participants, who had once been an Olympic oarsman. “How do you think we could go backward so: fast without communicating, steered by this little fellow in the stern, if we didn’t know each other very well, didn’t have total confidence to do our jobs and a shared commitment – almost a passion – for the same goal! It is the perfect formula for a team.”
Why our Objectives are best pursued Indirectly (2)
Contrary to business school doctrine, “maximizing shareholder wealth” or “profit maximization” has not been the dominant driving force or primary objective through the history of the visionary companies. Continue reading
Authentic Leadership : Excite others to exceptional performance.
You build a case for your leadership Continue reading
Too Much Hierarchy , Too Little Community
Hierarchies are very good at aggregating effort, at coordinating the activities of many people with widely varying roles. But they are not good at mobilising effort, at inspiring people to go above and beyond. Continue reading
Willingness to be called an asshole
Creative destruction and rebuilding of an established institution require the willingness to be called an asshole. Continue reading
Utterly Simple Idea
To my mind there must be, at the bottom of it all, not an equation, but an utterly simple idea. And to me that idea, when we finally discover it, will be so compelling, so inevitable, that we will say to one another, “Oh, how beautiful. How could it have been otherwise?”
– John Archibald Wheeler
ONE TUSK 