My old friend and neighbour Tom Walker has surfaced as a candidate for a new political party here in BC: the Work Less Party. Tom has been a passionate advocate for the 35 hour work week for as long as I have known him, seven years or more. He has done some really interesting labour relations research in his day too. With the launch of this political party, it’s clear that he has put his money where his mouth is. The party is no joke…Tom’s work has largely been about the social, economic and cultural benefits of a 35 hour …
…most of us live as if we are seperate from nature. Whereas a deer is fully in its body, we have retreated into our minds. By thinking, we have set up parameters that divide the universe into things that can be categorized, and we call that understanding. This gives us a sense of power and control. We look at a forest and say, “That’s a white pine. That’s a white oak. Over there is a sugar maple,” and we think we know the forest. But we have no real contact with those trees. We miss the details – the subtle …
For those of you who are wont to read a good business book from time to time, you might want to check out this little gem from Fast Company on how to read them. The essence: distill the central idea and create your own toolbox. Good advice that, especially when combined with another recently seen (but forgot where) idea that there is no such thing as the perfect business theory. A good consultant holds good theories and their opposites in mind at all times. Which is why we need decent holistic frameworks for working in organizations. That way we can …
The Globe and Mail published an obituary today for my father in law, Peter Frost. The obit focuses on his work with emtional toxicity in organizations, work of which he was so proud. He was the co-author and editor of dozens of books, but Toxic Emotions At Work was his first solo effort and I think it was the one of which he was the most proud. It followed on the heels of his first articles in the Harvard Business Review, starting in 1999. After a career of plowing away on the margins of organizational theory, he had finally cracked …
Received my invitation today for the 23rd International Symposium on Organizational Transformation (OT23). This year, friends Susan Kerr and Sheila Isakson among other are hosting the gathering in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. This year’s theme is “Welcoming Spirit”: We invite conversations at all levels of experience from persons who have heard about Open Space but not had an opportunity to participate to persons who have been practicing Open Space since Harrison Owen introduced it in the early 1980�s. These meetings are designed to be flexible and are intended for anyone who wishes to begin or continue learning about the practice of …