The first part of this posting is a bit of personal reflection about what has led me to start this blog. The second part is an outline of some of the topics I want to explore.
My main reason for starting this blog is to make myself write, to blast through my writers block, to get better at it through practice. For many years I have been thinking about writing books on management and organisational ideas, but have got no closer to actually starting. Titles have come and gone in my mind with an uncanny knack of appearing on the business bookshelves a few years later. With a couple of exceptions, I’ve also not got around to writing articles for professional or academic publications as a way of getting things going. Recently I realised that the more immediate and incremental approach to writing and publishing on the Internet could help me breakthrough. Hence this year I’ve got to grips with publishing my own website (which I’m using to post some of my existing ideas and materials that could be useful to organisational professionals) and now I’ve discovered how to set up a blog linked to that site. Hopefully I can use blog writing to get my ideas out while they are still fresh and build the disciplines of writing into my life. Perhaps some postings might mature into published articles or even provide the start for a full blown book.
You might be wondering what my motivation for writing actually is or whether I even have the talent for writing successful management material. I’m sure there is plenty of scope for improving my style but I also know that there is no substitute for practice and that you need to start somewhere! I wager there are worse writers than I who do get published and that in the process of taking ideas from these pages into professional articles or books there is plenty of scope to seek help from co-authors, editors, proof readers, etc. My wife Diana writes well and if I have something important to say to a wider audience I will also seek her help in editing my work (if she can find the time!)
Why do I want to write? I genuinely believe that I have a unique perspective and something important to communicate to organisational leaders and practitioners that will advance the evolution and development of the world we live in. I have spent the last ten years exploring the deeper processes or underlying patterns that shape what is going on in organisations today. In a world of increasing complexity, uncertainty and change, people sometimes need insight into the bigger picture, they also need road maps to negotiate the challenges and barriers to progress. I am passionate about helping move along the process of evolution and development at all levels – individuals, teams, organisations and societal systems and I want to connect in with any one else that shares this passion. I have an intellectual and structural bias which has taken me into exploring theories, models, and ideas which most people will never go near, but my interest in these is never purely academic and my real interest is in making relevant and important ideas more accessible to those working in the practical world. I feel I have an ability to integrate different ideas to create a synthesis or higher understanding and at the same time simplify and explain key principles in ways that make them accessible. In this sense my drive is primarily to educate and explain, although as the heart of my approach is developmental, I am also about facilitating the individual process of professional development.
A final reflection on a personal note – I generally hold back from writing for two reasons – first my perfectionism, the inability to get it right to my satisfaction, and secondly my narcissism/vanity – swinging between fear of been seen as arrogant, self-centred or vain, and the fear of being exposed as not really having anything to say of great value. With this blog I commit to putting these behind me!
What sort of things do I want to write about?
I believe that developmental, integral and psycho-spiritual perspectives can shed light on a whole range of issues that organisations and those leading them are facing today. These are just a few of the topics that I may post on.
About leadership…
The emerging challenges of leadership in the 21st century – and need for a shift to second tier or transcendent leadership. The limitations of static trait and competency based models of leadership.
The spiritual dimension within organisational leadership; what spirituality means in the context of different worldviews and why we need to be careful about language when exploring this realm.
The rise of systemic thinking as a recognised essential leadership competence and different approaches to its development.
Why has emotional intelligence (EQ) become so popular, what does it really mean and where is it leading us? Is spiritual intelligence (SQ) the next step?
Why each new leadership model is already out of date and how to transcend situationally static views of leadership. A developmental analysis of leadership theories, approaches and models.
The interplay of self-realisation and self-actualisation within leadership development and why Maslow saw only half the picture and got it upside down.
About organisational psyche and culture…
Common psychological pathologies and distortions within the collective psyche of organisational management and their consequences.
The growing bias against conceptual and reflective thinking within business and the unintended consequences.
The vicious circle of short termism created by city-oriented myopia and ego-driven careerism within business organisations, its implications and whether it can be broken.
Is the end is in sight for the target-obsessed culture in public services and what could it be giving way to? How more integrated, collaborative and networked ways of working are slowing taking hold in the education system.
The evolution and interplay of different worldviews and their role in creating tension and conflict within organisations. How to tell the difference between personality pathology and a clash of worldviews.
The different approaches to managing cultural difference within society and how these translate into corporate HR strategies. A review of Mark Williams’s Ten Lenses and the battle between the ‘assimilationists’, ‘integrationalists’ and ‘multiculturalists’.
Living in the gap; what happens in organisations when the gulf between the promise and reality (between gloss and substance, between what is said and what is done) becomes too great.
About aspects of change…
Why contrasting emergent with planned change approaches is too simplistic. An overview of the four essential perspectives needed within an holistic approach to managing change.
Tracing the really significant changes that have taken place in business over the last 20 years from integral, developmental and psychological perspectives.
The forgotten role of crisis within our individual and collective lives. The taboo against acknowledging crisis and how to release wisdom from personal crises.
and the organisational world in general…
Are modern day corporations out of step with the needs of the individual? A critique of Zuboff and Maxmin’s ‘The Support Economy’ and an alternative diagnosis.
The Apprentice exposed: a developmental analysis of how the business world gets represented in the media and why we don’t really care.
What the for-profit and not-for-profit sectors can learn from each other and why in general they don’t.
Sustainability and what it means within an organisational context. Towards a concept of organisational health based upon sustainable evolution and development.
And more specifically about organisational consulting…
The value of meta-models in helping organisational practitioners navigate the complexities of organisational change as well as to make sense of the burgeoning organisational thought-leadership throughput.
Why management consultancies are more interested in thought-followship than thought-leadership. Where does thought leadership actually come from and how do you get your hands on it early enough to make a difference?
How to sort the wheat from the chaff in the world of organisational leadership and change ideas, theories and models. When do fads make a difference and when don’t they.
The risks, rewards and limitations of executive coaching and where it seems to be heading.
Why most personality and leadership profiling models and tools are partial or misleading. Towards a holistic model of the personality and how different profiling tools fit together.
The six essential processes of personal growth and how to support them within an organisational context.
That’s enough for starters. These are working titles that may change. Please post me if there is a particular topic you would like me to prioritise for discussion.
