in neat increments. It occurs in the tangled webs of relationships--the networks--that characterize all living systems. There are no simple stages or easy-to-draw causal loops. Most communication and change occur quickly but invisibly, concealed by the density of interrelationships. If organizations behave like living systems, this description of how a living system changes should feel familiar to you. Some part of the system (the system can be anything--an organization, a community, a business unit) notices something. It might be in a memo, a chance comment, a news report. It chooses to be disturbed by this. "Chooses" is the operative word here--the freedom to be disturbe... posted on Apr 11 2018 (13,963 reads)

like that. I come from the humanities background. I love engineering. I love math. My dad was an engineer, so that’s why I wrote about it some. But the reason I started writing about it is that I realized that we of humanities backgrounds always are doing the lecture, like, “oh, we need to put the A in STEM. You’ve got to learn the arts and the humanities.” You get big applause at places when you talk about the importance of that. But we in the humanities, or in business or in finance and everything else, also have to meet halfway and learn the beauty of math. People tell me, “oh, I can’t believe somebody doesn’t know the difference between ... posted on Apr 6 2018 (12,634 reads)

 “Great aunt. Ninety-one. Had a good life,” he said, and proceeded towards the dumpster, our conversation apparently over. He placed the neatly folded sheets and blankets down carefully, as if this were now the room in which they would be kept. I’d seen dumpsters full of discards of all kinds, but never one like this, packed like a trunk for an ocean voyage.      I stood fixed to the spot, bewildered by the odd juxtaposition of sudden death and business-like calm. The nephew soon appeared with the next batch, which he stacked on top of the previous one in the same perfunctory manner. Considering his lack of feeling, I figured I could peer in... posted on Apr 1 2018 (1,169 reads)

be profitable to all stakeholders -- doctors and other health care professionals, patients, families, nurses, researchers, employers, employees, lawyers, lawmakers, taxpayers, and the administrators themselves. And as one of the key stakeholders, we physicians will be tapping into the spirit of the entrepreneur. We’re value creators, not wealth stealers. And we’re creating something more transformative than, say, some clinic in Walmart where we’re just a commodity in the business of medicine. We’re transforming the patient’s relationship to illness and wellness. But the beauty is, it’s a two-way exchange. In the process of helping her, we ourselve... posted on Aug 25 2018 (9,513 reads)

your job doesn’t necessarily lie in earning more money. We all spend a large part of our lives at our jobs. Yet how many of us are bored or frustrated at work, whether unhappy with our company’s goals, stressed from overwork, or dealing with toxic coworkers? Don’t we deserve better than that? The new book How to Be Happy at Work makes the case that, yes, we do, and happiness at work should be our ultimate goal. Written by Annie McKee—an international business advisor and senior fellow at the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education—the book provides ideas for how to turn your job into a source of happiness no matter wh... posted on Apr 28 2018 (59,593 reads)

in the business of creating a miracle here on earth.” – Charles Eisenstein What is it like to be in the midst of a miracle? The idea of a miracle sounds so warm and delicious, the kind of thing you would aspire to experience in a minute, right? Well, in fact, here on earth we are in the middle of miracle school, whether you remember enrolling or not. And, much like life itself (a miracle in its own right), it’s not all sunshine and rainbows. It’s very important to know the signs that one is participating in a miracle so you can see it through and not mess it up. Because miracles inspire panic, not awe, while they are in process. Keep this... posted on Jul 25 2018 (13,163 reads)

morning in October 2013. Winter was coming. Using social media to reach potential donors as well as those seeking help, Ramirez created a makeshift donation center on the sidewalk outside her Southwest Detroit home. There, the community organizer and her neighbors handed out warm clothing to children and recycled beds, dressers and microwaves to new mothers who needed furniture. When school began the next year, she was at it again, donating reams of school supplies she had collected from businesses and individuals. “Everything was being done out of my home when I started,” Ramirez says. Recognizing her efforts, the property manager of an abandoned local storefront gave ... posted on Aug 21 2018 (5,980 reads)

USA Today poll revealed that many voters consider their political opponents to be hateful, stupid, or racist. What are the solutions? There are many, no doubt, but here’s one to consider: moral elevation. That’s the “warm, uplifting feeling that people experience when they see unexpected acts of human goodness, kindness, courage, or compassion,” according to psychologist Jonathan Haidt, now the Thomas Cooley Professor of Ethical Leadership at the NYU-Stern School of Business. Take, for example, the undocumented immigrant in Paris who saved a child dangling from a balcony. Or the boy who raised over a million d... posted on Aug 28 2018 (10,253 reads)

SCOLARO: So let’s talk about the work you’re doing now and then journey back through your story. RACHEL CALLANDER: Okay cool. My work involves speaking to health professionals about the need to communicate with patients using openhearted language, especially at diagnosis. I teach how the first words used at diagnosis critically shape how a patient or parent or family member perceives the present and navigates their future. These words can either help the individual be their best self through this challenging time and find meaning even in pain, or they can create anger, mistrust, frustration, and break down the crucial relationship between with the health profe... posted on Aug 27 2018 (8,943 reads)

own company. Sources A New Study Reveals the True Cost of FOMO, by Cameron Albert-Deitch, Inc.com/ 2018 https://www.inc.com/cameron-albert-deitch/study-finds-the-cost-of-fomo.html This Is The Best Way to Overcome Fear of Missing Out, by Eric Barker, TIME/ 2016 http://time.com/4358140/overcome-fomo/ Here's what's really going on in your brain when you experience 'FOMO' — the fear of missing out, by Lindsay Dodgson, Business Insider/ 2018 https://www.businessinsider.com/why-we-experience-fear-of-missing-out-2018-4 The Science of FOMO and What We’re Really Missing Out On, by Nick Hobson Ph.D., Psychology Today/ 2018 https://www.psycholo... posted on Aug 30 2018 (32,964 reads)

child will be too. Get help, read books, do a course, learn to meditate… anything that will help you develop and grow personally. Rid yourselves of your own dreams and desires for them. Your kids are not there to fulfil your dreams or what you want. Let them do what they want, play the instrument they want, do the sport they want. Give them that freedom. Often, parents decide that their kids will play the piano or football or study a certain thing at school or take over the family business! Having kids is not about them meeting your expectations or your unfulfilled goals and dreams. Conscious parenting is not about setting up controls of what is good/bad or acceptable/unaccepta... posted on Oct 15 2018 (40,353 reads)

have a folding plastic chair that I keep near the horse paddock, home to a small family of six horses. Many times a week, I hoist the chair over the railing, unfold it in the middle of the enclosure and just sit. It’s the perfect way to not only ‘share territory’ with my equine companions (a deceptively simple but potent training technique), but to observe their behaviors. Sometimes things are tangibly still, like sitting inside a Tibetan monastery. Sometimes, things are moving—one horse pushing another with silent subtle gestures, which leads to the movement of others—a sea of to and fro. At other times, things are playful and robust, with dust flying and ... posted on Sep 22 2018 (20,976 reads)

credit. Transformation requires that we both pioneer new personal ways of life while also working together to enact policies and build new social institutions that will sustain them. I’ve begun to reconsider the old picture that I had in my head, the one where I’m delivering the speech on the Mall. I’ve realized that a lot of that dream came from my ego, which is a barrier to greater progress.  Our culture celebrates the greatness of the individual—celebrities, business icons and agents of social change—without acknowledging the collectives around them that are the true source of greatness. We’ve built a political industrial complex made up of... posted on Oct 28 2018 (7,306 reads)

dining room and she was nearly in tears. She’d had her semi-annual review with her boss and it hadn’t gone well (in her eyes) even though she’d received a satisfactory rating. She said to me, “I’m so tired of pursuing my boss’s approval. I’m so tired of being unappreciated. I came to this country to pursue happiness and I’m not feeling much.” I gave her a hug and said to her, “Pursuing and attaining are ways of being you learned in business school. They may serve you on the success treadmill, but they won’t buy you happiness. Practicing gratitude and attuning yourself to your own internal joy will service you the rest of y... posted on Nov 14 2018 (6,278 reads)

Use of Human Beings: Cybernetics and Society (public library) — his visionary 1950 treatise on communication, control, and the moral dimension of technology, which went on to influence thinkers as diverse as beloved author Kurt Vonnegut, anthropologist Mary Catherine Bateson, and virtual reality pioneer Jaron Lanier.  Norbert Wiener In a sentiment that applies with striking precision to the cultural economics of the Internet, Wiener writes: The newspaper business has come to be the art of saying less and less to more and more… [This] applies equally to the radio, to television, and even to bookselling. Thus we are in an age where the enormous p... posted on Oct 21 2018 (4,222 reads)

qualifying nonprofits that provide service dogs to military members or veterans who suffer from PTSD after they finalize other traditional treatments.  Baker actually spoke at a press conference in support of the act. “Going into the public was very difficult,” says Baker. “I’m always watching over my back.” But Buddy has helped Baker to get back out into the public. Tiffany graduated this past May from Waukesha County Technical College with a degree in business management, and an emphasis in social media marketing. As Baker puts it, she is like every other broken person whose service dog keeps them going. She says, “I need to get out of bed to... posted on Nov 15 2018 (10,318 reads)

with its claims to universal validity, this one way of knowing, promised us wealth and peace. The profits grew, but our trees, homes, and lands were disrespected; we became more efficient, but our efficiencies crowded out our cultures and languages. Now we can no longer abide economic structure and ideological monologue that considers our wellbeing an afterthought, our lands a lifeless mass of dirt awaiting capitalist redemption, and our cultures a cosmetic distraction from the more serious business of making more money. We cannot listen for too long to the boastings of a pixel pretending to be the entire picture. Let me say that the crisis we face as a species is not merely economic,... posted on Dec 27 2018 (6,383 reads)

bigger than our own life, extending the hospitality we show at home out into the world, and treating everyone like our family.” What kind of response do you receive from diners? Is the zero-dollar check a surprise to anyone? We receive all kinds of responses. The zero dollar check is often a surprise for first-time diners. Folks often do a double-take, and then as you explain the concept to them, there’s a feeling of awe that kind of fills the air. In a market economy where businesses constantly advertise how much we lack, this setting reminds us that the reverse is true: We have everything we already need, and our greatest wealth is our capacity to give. Of course, e... posted on Dec 24 2018 (8,161 reads)

would get back his voice so quickly,” says Dr Vishal. Other patients are equally happy. Take the case of the sexagenarian Sudhindra Babu, who had an imported voice device fitted in 2015 after his larynx was removed. He had spent Rs 23,000 on it, but the device gave frequent trouble. A year later, he decided to try Dr Vishal’s device. Aum Voice Prosthesis weighs 25 grams and measures 2.5 cm in length Two years have passed since then, and he has faced no problem. “As a businessman, I travel a lot... My voice is very clear and I find no difficulty in communicating with others,” he testifies. “I am very happy with Dr Vishal and the care he gives to his pat... posted on Jan 3 2019 (5,662 reads)

like it’s time to go.’ And they say: ‘It’s not time to go yet, we haven’t finished yet.’ And those guys not only make sure there is time for the two left to share their story of pain, they also end putting up the altar … I just held my ground and I look for their true nature, and their nature is, we want to help each other. When you are in a context where there is diversity of agendas, which might be your case, you might have someone with a business agenda, someone might want to feel whole, someone else’s agenda might be to be a dreamer, or a teacher… We have to see these different agendas and bring them up to the surface, a... posted on Jan 24 2019 (10,455 reads)