Leadership Themes #2: From Clockwork to Complexity: Recognising Diverse Environments
Part of leadership is correctly recognising the environment in which we are operating. To be able to do that, we need a) to understand what the different types of environment are, and b) understand what their distinctive qualities are. That gives us a theoretical appreciation, but it may also be useful to have an appreciation […]
Leadership Themes #1
[I am trying to pick out some common themes and lessons from these books on leadership and organisations. This is Part 1, a short introduction to a series of 6 or so posts] To lead effectively you need to correctly assess your operating environment. Assess it well, and you are more likely to get good […]
Wayfinders, Navigation and Progress
Wayfinders are extraordinary – highly trained, technology free and remarkably successful navigators. I’ve been wondering quite a bit recently about data, measuring progress and all that sort of thing, especially given complexity, and these Polynesian navigators provide some rich lessons, I think. They’re not operating...
Delivery mechanisms for values
Two interesting things I’ve seen recently have got me thinking. The first was Mark Slouka’s comment that The humanities, done right, are the crucible within which our evolving notions of what it means to be fully human are put to the test; they teach us, incrementally, endlessly, not what to do but how to be…. […]
Packaged Opinion
There is simply too much to think about. It is hopeless — too many kinds of special preparation are required. In electronics, in economics, in social analysis, in history, in psychology, in international politics, most of us are, given the oceanic proliferating complexity of things, paralyzed by the very suggestion that we assume...
Networks, Complexity & Emergence
On Taoism, emergence and my trying to remember the basics of complexity theory