“I imagine this happens a lot, managers with a day full of high-leverage activities don’t get around to the less-important reminder type messages until later at night. They send an email so they don’t forget, and subordinates scramble to respond. Employees burn energy that should be recharging for the next Read more…
Flickr/ Randen Pederson
My first big CSR/sustainability event was the 2010 Net Impact Conference held at the University of Michigan’s Ross Business School. I had been invited there to speak on a panel on the topic of intrapreneurship, which gave me the opportunity to sit in on a number inspiring and insightful talks. One of the sessions I attended was an interview with Aron Cramer, the CEO of BSR.
As I recall, much of that hopeful, engaging discussion centered on transparency – a topic that’s close to my heart. The concept of radical transparency is pretty simple. It’s the idea that firms will endeavor to be as transparent as they possibly can, both externally with customers, communities and competitors and internally throughout the organization. It’s akin to asking a fully armored knight to strip down to a fig leaf. This is an idea I fully agree with, and it’s one that helped give rise to the idea which prompted this post. (more…)
Flickr/cobalt123
Here are a handful of my favorite posts from the past year. It’s a bit of a mixed bag (peaks and valleys and whatnot). I hope you’ll find something of value — much more to come in the new year.
Thanks for stopping by!
My thoughts on inequality in the context of H.G. Wells’ “The Time Machine.” (If you’re wondering why I’m always muttering about Morlocks and Eloi…) (more…)
Flickr/Andrewww26
Time for another go around with advice from the master. This time out it’s all about finding meaning in life.
Enjoy!
On being yourself and making meaning
Freedom discovers man the moment he loses concern over what impression he is making or about to make.
Many people dedicate their lives to actualizing a concept of what they should be like, rather than actualizing themselves.
Bruce Lee (flickr/Zanthia)
A brief interaction on Twitter got me to thinking about how Bruce Lee’s philosophy on Kung Fu might translate well for those trying to nudge businesses in positive directions.
@gpetriglieri The desired/allowed gap is the story of my life. Have to make like water and find the unblocked paths for positive change.
— Chris Oestereich (@costrike) September 7, 2013
I dug up a number of Bruce Lee’s quotes and decided it might be worth framing those ideas in terms of leading change in business. I hope it resonates. (more…)
I just read an interesting post that was shared by Carol Sanford (One of my favorite thinkers.) on Twitter earlier today.
The manifesto Carol shared asks us to purposefully look at our careers not from the perspective of a defined path, but from that of broad possibilities. This got me to thinking of the idealized career path of a prior generation.
Yesterday’s Career Path
The old goal, find a steady job with a steady firm has fallen by the wayside. The treadmill of change was stuck in neutral for a while, but it’s back on and picking up speed these days. Very few of us will have long-term careers with a single company now. This brings us to what I see as today’s career path.
Whitney Johnson
Nilofer Merchant
I stayed in Cambridge, Massachussets this summer while finishing up my second master’s degree. While in town, I made it a point to reach out to a number of thinkers who I had connected with on Twitter over the past couple of years. I was pleased to learn that two of those thinkers, Whitney Johnson and Nilofer Merchant, were nominated for the upcoming Thinkers50 awards. I’m happy to share that they were original members of the Important Voices page that I maintain here to point others to the folks who keep me both growing and grounded.
The Thinkers50 award can help those who are looking to drive positive change. With that in mind, I’d like to try to convince you to cast ballots for both of Nilofer and Whitney. Both of them are accomplished authors with popular books to their credit (Whitney / Nilofer) as well as being regular contributors on the HBR blogs (Nilofer / Whitney). They’re also both business leaders with successful track records, which many of our revered thinkers lack. (more…)