Article: We are all Khaled Said
Demonstrators on 1.28.11 in Cairo. Photo: Ramy Raoof [CCA 2.0 G]. Chris Walker, a new friend I met while presenting at PRMI, sent me an insightful article on the face of the Egyptian protests from the New York Times. The articles profiles the rise of Egyptian young-professional Khaled Said's martyrdom from a
Article: For the Long Journey, Learn from Terns
Artic Tern, Sterna paradisaea. Photo: Carsten Egevang/ARC-PIC.COM
Article: Surveys Find Growth and Maintenance Critical, But Little Spending Planned for Small Businesses
According to a January survey by AmEx OPEN, 60% of small business owners believe growing or maintaining their client relationships is the most important priority in the coming six months. On the other hand, seven in ten owners say they will spend the same or less on growing and improving their business,
Article: Uncle Walt and the Big Story
Over the past couple of weeks, I've been writing about the process of Story Clarification. As I've been writing, I been struck again and again how important meta-narrative is for me. Unless there is a story bigger than me, bigger than my company, bigger than this whole project, something good and meaningful, it all seems a bit hollow. Powering this bigger story is the sense that there are better, richer, ways to go about enterprise. Ways that give delight to the producers and the consumers alike. Ways that are good for the world, not bound in the economics of scarcity and fear. Ways that produce wholeness...
Article: Organizational Storytelling and Leadership
I'm writing MuddyHudson's resource on Story Clarficiation (watch our progress on developing this idea on the wiki). My research has been leading me in some interesting directions, including neuroscience, psychology, and management theory. It seems storytelling is really gaining traction in various enterprises like Xerox (PARC), the World Bank, and Executive Development (PDF). Steve Denning is one...
Article: Swinging for the Fences
For most of my youth, I never imagined that I would become anything other than a professional baseball player. I’m told that I was throwing a ball from about 18 months old. The only studio pictures of me as a small child feature a flannel, pinstriped baseball uniform. I developed a strong throwing arm by having catches with my friend Phil before I was allowed to cross the street to his house. When nobody was around, for hours at a time, I’d toss the ball in the air, off walls, off roofs…anything to be playing. And before I was old enough for...