Another topic that came up at the conference was the issue of blame and responsibility. How do you react, when a situation is all your fault? Or when somebody accuses you of it? We talked about it, and a thought came to me: There are a few differences between blame and responsibility.
Blame is … Continue Reading ››
Category Archives: Leadership
Leadership is an insanely important discipline. Here you’ll find the thought, tools and tricks of the trade of great leaders.
Strong democratic leaders, a paradox?
One of the things that came up in the discussion at the democratic CEO round table was the apparent paradox, that a democratic organization needs a strong leader. You'd think that the whole idea of democratic organizations, would be to eliminate the need for strong leaders so that everyone could lead according to their interests … Continue Reading ››
Practice of peace – part 1
You know, when I planned my trip to the US and planned to fly from DC to Seattle, I was kinda thinking "OK, domestic flight, how long can it be - 2-3 hours?" Well, flying across the US takes five and a half hours!
I'm now at the Practice of Peace conference, … Continue Reading ››
I'm now at the Practice of Peace conference, … Continue Reading ››
Simplicity – complexity – simplicity
I posted an Oliver Wendell Holmes quote a while ago:
I would not give a fig for the simplicity this side of complexity, but I would give my life for for the simplicity on the other side of complexity.Sandy Wilder of Communico used this quote in his presentation at the CEO round table, and that got … Continue Reading ››
Democratic CEO round table, part 2
The round table is now over, and it's been an amazing ride. Some of the highlights were:
* Hearing real-life stories of organizational democracy - the ups AND the downs
* Meeting some wonderful, courageuos people
* Exploring the link between political democracy and organizational democracy. Fredo Arias-King gave a fascinating presentation on the transition … Continue Reading ››
* Hearing real-life stories of organizational democracy - the ups AND the downs
* Meeting some wonderful, courageuos people
* Exploring the link between political democracy and organizational democracy. Fredo Arias-King gave a fascinating presentation on the transition … Continue Reading ››
Democratic CEO round table, part 1
I'm now in Washington DC, and the first 24 hours of the World Dynamics round table for democratic CEO's has been fantastic. There are some great people here, who can tell some amazing stories. There's an incredible level of experience, openness and curiosity present - and it's just plain fun.
The conference started thursday … Continue Reading ››
The conference started thursday … Continue Reading ››
Incentives do not work
If you want your employees to perform well, conventional wisdom says that you must give them lots of incentives. Stuff like free phone calls, company cars, gold stars, employee of the month awards are necessary, right? Wrong! Incentives, and the ensuing competition, actually make matters worse, and remove peoples attention from their work. This makes … Continue Reading ››
Will your business fail if you take today off?
Peter Carruthers ponders the entreprenurial drive and what it does to business leaders in this article. Teaser: Most of us are bogged down with a deep guilt about our businesses. We?re uncomfortable being away from the beast for too long. Maybe it?s the way we were taught ? that we have to work hard … Continue Reading ››
Quote
I'm a businessman, but I'm still going to do things on my own terms. I'm going to break a lot of rules, and we're going to blur the distinction between work and play. So we have a policy here - it's called "Let My People Go Surfing." A policy which is, when the surf comes … Continue Reading ››
Going to DC and Seattle
I'm going to 2 conferences in the US in november. First I'm going to World Dynamics conference for democratic CEOs in Washington DC arranged by Traci Fenton and her crew, and after that I'm going to Washington state to be a part of the Practice of Peace conference. While these two conferences look … Continue Reading ››