Current economic and financial problems have been caused by systematic failure of macho, short-term leadership

What we are encountering in the global economy isn’t just a credit crisis and looming melt-down of various financial institutions. It goes deeper than that. We are daily faced by clear proof that, in the past few years, many corporate leaders [...]

A friend of my wife sent her a series of photographs she had found somewhere on the Internet. They tell such a simple and powerful story that I felt I had to pass them on. If you’ve already seen them, I apologize, but maybe you’ll be interested in how this might relate to the world [...]

Why do some of them seem incapable of learning?

“I have called, and ye refused” says Wisdom irritably, in the King James Version of the Bible. “I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded.” It’s a common enough complaint, and one that’s found in most great religions and in the works of most great [...]

Slowing down isn’t about giving things up. It’s making time first for the things in your life that matter most

Zen Habits has an excellent post on making time in your life for your personal needs and goals.
In our action-obsessed, “get it done” culture, it’s all too easy to become convinced that the more goals you [...]

I am coping with some health issues for the present and my writing schedule is likely to be disrupted as a result. To fill in some of the gaps, I will be re-publishing some articles from the past, and some that I wrote as guest posts elsewhere. I hope to be able to return to [...]

Understanding the natural currents of information in today’s macho organizations shows how communications become blocked

What’s most often blamed for organizational problems of every kind? Poor communication.
What probably claims most attention from consultants, writers, gurus, and trainers? Same answer; yet it never appears to improve significantly.
Since modern organizations began to emerge, people have been [...]

Being an entrepreneur doesn’t mean you have to act like an asshole too

On March 7th, “Men with Pens” ran this article suggesting that entrepreneurs are basically control freaks with a bad case of ego hyper-inflation. It describes entrepreneurs as “the most difficult and frustrating people to deal with,” accusing them of talking over people, steamrolling [...]

Respectfulness towards others is the key to a more civilized workplace

The challenge for life at work is this: how to be a “business” person and a “human being” at the same time. How to be compete, yet cooperate; be hard-nosed, yet ethical; keep one’s nose to the grindstone, yet still take time to “see” and [...]

Perhaps, by seeking endless youth, we’re missing the benefits of maturity

In the natural world, growth is never endless. Things begin, grow, mature, fade, and die. Why should we imagine that our human constructions like corporations and careers should be exempt from this universal law?
Many people are attracted to the benefits of a more “natural” [...]

Setting “challenging” performance targets may be behind many of today’s ethical problems

It’s become conventional management wisdom to use performance targets as the primary means of managing, often combined with “empowerment.”
The reasoning goes that people need to know what they are expected to achieve (and by when), while individual creativity and initiative are best tapped [...]