US President George W. Bush has nominated Robert Zoellick as the next World Bank President, after Paul Wolfowitz, fell over a case of alleged nepotism. Will the new WB president introduce significant changes from his predecessor's policy? Difficult to say, as the new man is a neo-con like Wolfowitz but on the other side he is more internationally oriented than the small circle of hardliners around Bush. I personally don't expect much to happen. More...
I was impressed by a blog that I discovered today by an Australian company called Anecdotes which uses narrative approaches to change facilitation. In an article called "Knowledge strategy - three journeys", they write:
We’ve learned that top down strategies don’t work. ... To get things moving
in an organisation we’ve developed what we call the three journeys
approach:
The first journey is designed to help the organisation's leaders
develop a common understanding of what they would like to achieve and defining
this end-state in broad terms, while knowing that detailed plans are unlikely to
be achieved. ...
The second journey involves the rest of the organisation (or a
representative subset) planning how they will get to the desired state.
...
The third journey is when the organisation actually embarks on implementing
the ideas developed in the first two imaginary journeys. ...
The 15th World OsonOS in Kyiv, Ukraine, has finished. An important event. Also a first, for me, to be at a World OsonOS.
Everything is coloured by the lens that we employ. The lens is based on where we are right now in our life. My core process (thinking of the signs of life that I ranked a week or two ago) at the moment may well be individuation. Thus whilst I was aware of, and contributed, to the group process, I retained a stronger personal perspective than in my previous experiences, and within that a much deeper impression of individuals around me. The dual perspective that Michael Herman spoke of recently was highly present. More...
This morning began with greater presence. A tough question was asked, and a little bit of chaos was introduced. I bumbled between two sessions and said a few things and at some point in the first session I think, it seemed to me as if a great mindfulness had settled upon our gathering. More...
Of course I cannot speak for anyone else, but I'm in process now. I didn't come with too many expectations to this event, or so I thought, and probably not quite as prepared to be surprised as I should have been. Nothing much has happened yet, and that's kind of the problem I have.
Now this is a challenge (for me and maybe for you)...
Few days ago, I was sitting at Karachi airport, departing from a country which is a strong ally to the US in the war against terror and at the same time one of the increasing number of countries in which the US isn't popular - mildly speaking. This is not about discussing US politics (not now...). But it is interesting to analyze the growing global aversion against the US from a systemic viewpoint. Obviously, in many countries of Western Europe and the Middle East it is politically not correct to be pro-American, unless you are the German Chancellor. Serious enough, you can say this is more of a personal issue if you look at European-American relationships (many Europeans like to travel to the US), it gets explosive when you look at the relationships between people of Middle East or other Muslim dominated countries and the US, with obvious global impacts. More...
Some ideas from leadership research. We asked a panel of 6 leaders from diverse backgrounds the following question 'what attitudes and behaviours could you engage that would stimulate innovation in your organisation?' More...
On a short trip to Pakistan, I found a good new blog on Project Management: Better Projects by Craig Brown. Today, he published a comprehensive and well illustrated article about Stakeholder Management, which is worth to visit.
Craig writes:
When tackling stakeholder management ask yourself what you are trying to achieve with stakeholder management. The bottom line is that you are trying to improve the project's chance of success. And you are doing it through analysing and understanding stakeholder needs, which may become either requirements or constraints, and communicating them effectively back to the project team (and sponsor.)
IFC launches a new IFC publication, "Stakeholder Engagement: A Good Practice Handbook for Companies Doing Business in Emerging Markets." The Handbook draws on IFC's own learning as well as the current thinking and practices of our client companies and other institutions to provide the good practice "essentials" for building and sustaining constructive relationships over time as a means of risk mitigation, new business identification, and enhancing development outcomes. (from: The Newswire of Corporate Social Responsibility)
Indeed, this handbook - which can be downloaded free of charge from the International Finance Corporation's website is impressive: 200 pages with plenty of background information, tools and methodologies, and case studies from all over the world that examplify the principles.
This book is useful for the corporate responsibility officer in companies, as well as for consultants advising and for NGOs monitoring corporate social responsibility.
DaimlerChrysler reached an agreement early today to sell the struggling Chrysler Group to Cerberus Capital Management, a private equity firm that specializes in restructuring troubled companies, for $7.4 billion. (New York Times, May 14).
There is plenty of literature on the role of change management in merger processes, which have provided some of the prime examples of successful or non-successful corporate change. The theory says that when two companies wed, they will have to undergo a complex process that involves cultural adaptations, technological changes, leadership issues, etc. But what about demergers? More...
"Computers in the future may weigh no more than one and a half tons."
—Popular Mechanics, Forecasting the Relentless March of Science, 1949
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"I think there is a world market for maybe five computers."
—Thomas Watson, Chairman of IBM, 1943
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"I have traveled the length and breadth of this country and talked with the best people, and I can assure you that data processing is a fad that won't last out the year."
—The Editor in Charge of Business Books for Prentice Hall, 1957
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"But what . . . is it good for?"
—Engineer at the Advanced Computing Systems Divisions of IBM, commenting on the microchip, 1968
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"There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home."
—Ken Olson, President, Chairman, and Founder of Digital Equipment Corporation, 1977
Change.org is one of the thousands new online communities that have been created over the last two years. It is one particular which deserves critical observation and follow-up.
Friday evening, nice spring weather, balcony, a good Spanish red wine (Viña del Sió, 2005), my favourite jazz radio station (Lider FM, Baku, Azerbeidjan, you really have to listen to it if you like Jazz) and my notebook on my lap: I am enjoying a new ride through the Internet, looking for what's cool. Here are two suggestions that you should follow up:
Jane's E-Learning Pick of the Day: a daily item of e-learning interest selected by Jane Hart. This is a nice blog with lots of good ideas and hints about emerging e-learning tools and tendencies.
InPowr: a web platform for self-exploration and discovery that helps you plan, play and progress in every area of life, and all online. This is a great tool based on the World Health Organization definition of health, years of research into developmental psychology and the experience of a Master Olympic Coach. You need to create an account, but it is worth.
As I have posted yesterday, I have left Dresden. If you want to follow the story line, please visit the official conference blog:
http://conversationsthatmatter.typepad.com/worldcafe_europe/
In Dresden, the first European World Café Gathering took off today. It started with a remarkable and, at least in Germany unprecedented event – a series of simultaneous World Cafés where citizens of Dresden engage in meaningful conversations. This morning, I visited two different places. First, I went to the Frauenkirche, one of Germany’s most important symbols of war, but also of peace and forgiveness. This church was destroyed during World War II in an air attack of the RAF, and reconstructed recently. This was made possible by multiple donations from citizens but also from abroad, particularly from the UK. More...
"It's the will of one nation versus the stubbornness of one man."
How does the following sound to you?
"xxx is management, coordination and administration etc. without ruling and thus without rulers."
What does xxx stand for? Chaordic Management? Systemic Management? The Interactive Organization? The Learning Organization? Deep Democracy? NO. The full quote reads like this:
"Anarchy is management, coordination and administration etc. without ruling and thus without rulers."
Yes, most of the messages I usually send out sound terribly liberal, and I confess, liberalism has had a strong influence on me throughout my lifetime. At the same time, I can clearly see that radical (market) liberalism hasn't worked any better to alleviate poverty than all attempts to establish a socialist regime. More...
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