Category Archives: Leadership

Leadership is an insanely important discipline. Here you’ll find the thought, tools and tricks of the trade of great leaders.

Book Reviews, Happy At Work, Leadership, Learning

Book review: An unused intelligence

November 4, 2002 Alexander Leave a comment

There are many different theories about learning, but not a single one of them states, that the best way to learn, is to sit passively on a chair, while a teacher talks about the subject in question. No theory ever in the history of the world has claimed it, and yet this is how schools, … Continue Reading ››

Leadership, Politics

Quote

November 3, 2002 Alexander Leave a comment

I hear people everywhere saying that the trouble with our time is that we have no great leaders any more. If we look back, we always had them. But to me it seems that there is a very profound reason why there are no great leaders anymore. It is because they are no longer needed. … Continue Reading ››

Book Reviews, Happy At Work, Leadership

Book review: The power of spirit

October 28, 2002 Alexander 1 Comment

Harrison Owen is the inventor of Open Space Technology, the most exciting and productive way of meeting with other people that I know of. In The power of spirit, how organizations transfrom he describes what an organization might look like, if it lived by the open space principles. And let me … Continue Reading ››

Book Reviews, Happy At Work, Leadership, Science/Technology

Book review: The soul at work

October 27, 2002 Alexander Leave a comment

Complexity science is appearing more and more often in business literature (and just about everywhere else). This book with the subtitle "unleashing the power of complexity science for business success" shows a better way to manage organizations than the old command-and-control way, and describes some of the tools needed to get there. It … Continue Reading ››

Change, Leadership

Exercise: Faster or slower

October 22, 2002 Alexander Leave a comment

Is faster always better? Try this exercise, and see what you think.

Let's say that you want to optimize some process to save time.

In many activities, you can take all the fun out of it if you hurry too much. For example, I used to be a hell-bent skier. This … Continue Reading ››

Book Reviews, Happy At Work, Leadership

Book review: Orbiting the giant hairball

October 16, 2002 Alexander 2 Comments

Gordon Mackenzie spent 20 years working for Hallmark, and his experiences there have enabled him to write what he calls "a corporate fools guide to surviving with grace". There's no doubt that Gordon is a free spirit, and here he shares the mindset and that allowed him to survive and prosper in a … Continue Reading ››

Leadership, Politics

Politicians and morals

October 15, 2002 Alexander Leave a comment

Thor Pedersen, the danish minister of finance, is accused of owning a farm without living on it, even though danish law requires him to. He is being attacked relentlessly by both the opposition and the media. He's admitted to breaking the law, and promised not to do it anymore.

Thor Pedersens guilt or innocence … Continue Reading ››

Book Reviews, Happy At Work, Leadership, Learning

Book review: The fifth discipline

October 14, 2002 Alexander Leave a comment

The fifth discipline by Peter M. Senge is one of those books that truly make a difference. It is referred to in many different contexts, and it played an important role in shaping the concepts of the learning organization. He uses a cool analogy, and compares it to the first succesful commercial airplane the … Continue Reading ››