purpose
Relational Business Design
“An organization’s fitness—like that of an organism—cannot be assessed in a vacuum; it is a product of compatibility with the surrounding environment.” — General Stanley McChrystal With the present-day cynicism towards large institutions, we have lost our sense of their potential. The complex states of government, academia, corporations, networks, and multinational nonprofits are an evolutionary […]
Plurality of Purpose
You’ve read the title, and may be assuming this is another post chiding people and organizations for not being “on purpose” – for not being focused, unified, and devoted to a single purpose. The common understanding is that we need to get in a room and decide what we’re doing, why we’re doing it, and […]
Relationships are Complex
“The world is made of Circles And we think in straight Lines” — Peter Senge Esko Kilpi wrote this week about Men and Machines. He explored how “the sciences of uncertainty and complexity have helped us to understand that organizations are patterns of interaction between human beings. An enterprise that is conceptualized as a social […]
The Value of Community
“But in practice master plans fail – because they create totalitarian order, not organic order. They are too rigid; they cannot easily adapt to the natural and unpredictable changes that inevitably arise in the life of a community.” — Christopher Alexander New research confirms that organizations that are advanced in their use of communities are […]
