Book Description
Foundations are a peculiarly American institution. They have been the dynamo of social change since their invention at the beginning of the last century. Yet they are cloaked in secrecy- their decision-making and operations are inscrutable to the point of obscurity-leaving them substantially unaccountable to anyone.
Joel Fleishman has been in and around foundations for almost half a century...running them, sitting on their boards, and seeking grants from them. And in this groundbreaking book he explains the history of foundations, tells the stories of the most successful foundation initiatives-and of those that have failed-and explains why it matters.
The baby boomer generation is going to participate in the largest transfer of wealth in history when it passes on its assets to its successor generation. The third sector is about to become more powerful than ever. This book shows how foundations can provide a vital spur to the engine of the American, and the world's, economy-if they are properly established and run.
Customer Reviews:
ESSENTIAL Primer, the Good, the Bad, and the Recommended.......2007-10-19
This is a very helpful book, indeed, a unique book. Here are some of the notes I took. As one of 24 co-founders of a new 501c3, the Earth Intelligence Network, created to provide decision support to foundations, the United Nations, NGOs, and others seeking to address the ten high-level threats to Humanity, I could not have found a more relevant work.
A few notes:
* Foundations are the dynamo of social change, with three roles varying from foundation to foundation: as driver, as partner, or as catalyst.
* The author is very critical of the general state of mismanagement and in some cases, lack of clear ethical guidelines or stated values, and says the field must do better.
* In his view, and his case studies bear this out, foundations are an enormous force for good, but they are unregulated, unaccountable, and if they are to retain the tax breaks and the trust of the people, they must change their process, their governance, and their attitude--this will, in the author's words, strengthen the social contract within which they are given so much leeway.
* He states that foundations *need* a decision-making process (music to my ears) and also a progress-checking system.
* He clearly communicates the willy-nilly state of many foundation programs, their lack of boundaries and focus, and hence their relative lack of impact. He states that many underperform, are insulated, and are arrogant.
* A positive quote (the book is generally positive and constructive) from page 3: "Foundations enable the creation of countless civil sector organizations--groups dealing with human rights, civil liberties, social policy experimentation, public advocacy, environmental protection, knowledge generation, human capital building, and service delivery, among other causes--and assist them in building national, regional, and local constituencies that move into the forefront of continuing social change. Elsewhere in the book he points out that in many areas, foundations preceeded and inspired later government programs.
* He is careful to point out that foundations have had limited success with education, health care, and poverty, and that in the face of global challenges (e.g. the ten high level threats to Humanity) the best they can do is educate the public and press government for action. I disagree. If foundations could collaborate with the United Nations UN) and leverage the Multinational Decision Support Center (MDSC) that we are trying to create in Tampa, Florida, they could among themselves agree to take on specific elements of a $230 billion a year program that Medard Gabel has been researching for ten years.
* He points out that US foundations take in 1.1 trillion a year in revenues, but only dole out $33.6 billion a year. In my view, given the enormous value of preventive action, I believe the foundations should be required to dole out 20% of their endowment in the first year of a concerted global program, and then so much as to keep the endowment steady, not hoarding and growing.
* While the "overarching objective" of foundations is large-scale social change, the author notes that they are peripheral players *unless they can organize and catalyze in the aggregate--precisely what the UN and the MDSC could help them do.
* He laments the current lack among most foundations of the "scientific method" that the Carnegies and Rockefellers first imposed, to wit: 1) get the facts; 2) identify problems precisely; 3) study options for action; 4) identify supporting and opposing stakeholders; and 5) plan for action. He blames the predominantly academic leadership of foundations today for the loss of "business" rigor and focus.
* The bottom line in this book appears with regularity in these pages: without goal setting and progress measuring, most foundation programs are simply arbitrary give-a-ways. He admires the Carnegie "Appraisal List" as a good starting point. He points out that neither inputs nor outputs matter; what matters is outcome.
* He lists all that ails foundations, a list that includes arrogance, discourtesy, inaccessibility, arbitrariness, failure to communicate, foundation Attention Deficit Disorder, lack of accountability, invisibility, scholarly void, and political vulnerability.
* The balance of the book consists of chapters that are extremely helpful, and here to whet the potential buyer's interest, I will simply list five core aspects of the book.
* Strategies and practices include (with subheadings not shown here):
* Creating and disseminating knowledge
* Building human capital
* Public policy advocacy
* Changing public attitudes
* Changing the law
* Creating a blue ribbon commission
* Offering an award or prize
* Building a model through a pilot program
* Financing litigation
* Building institutions
* Building physical plant
* Catalyzing partnerships among foundation
* Catalyzing partnerships with the for-profit sector
* Ways of recognizing impact include:
* Major benefits to the public
* Expansion of knowledge
* Helping to launch a movement
* Catalyzing an urgent social change
* Taking an initiative to scale
* Characteristics of high-impact programs (with much detail for each):
* Focus
* Alignment
* Due diligence about the problem
* Due diligence about the solution
* Intelligent talent selection
* Due diligence about prospective grant-receiving organizations
* Entrepreneurial riskp-taking
* Optemistic thinking
* Independence
* Effective grantee selection and management
* Long-term thinking and commitment
* Maintaining focus and alignment over time
There is a chapter on how foundations fail, and certainly this entire book, and especially this chapter, need to be read by any foundation executive--or any prospective donor to any foundation.
This is a truly great and helpful book. I put it down thinking to myself, "my goodness, not only does the United Nations need an Assistant Secretary General for Decision Support, but so also do the foundations in the aggregate." Worthy book!
A More Secure World: Our Shared Responsibility--Report of the Secretary-General's High-level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change
Preparing for the 21st century: An appraisal of U.S. intelligence : report of the Commission on the Roles and Capabilities of the United States Intelligence Community
The 9/11 Commission Report: Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (Authorized Edition)
On Intelligence: Spies and Secrecy in an Open World
The New Craft of Intelligence: Personal, Public, & Political--Citizen's Action Handbook for Fighting Terrorism, Genocide, Disease, Toxic Bombs, & Corruption
Peacekeeping Intelligence: Emerging Concepts for the Future
Information Operations: All Information, All Languages, All the Time
THE SMART NATION ACT: Public Intelligence in the Public Interest
Examining a Big but Little Known Area.......2007-03-09
Foundations are a subset of Non-Profit organizations that have become surprisingly big busines in the United States. Somewhere around 1/7th of the business in the country is conducted by these organizations. Somewhere around 1/9th of the workforce is employed by one. They have become an integral part of the American economy.
In this book Mr. Fleishman looks at Foundations (a number of which he has been associated as employee, trustee or some other capacity). He examines what makes a foundation successful, and how some have failed. He offers insight and advice on how to make a foundation more successful, and at the same time how foundations should have an obligation to become more accountable since they received special tax considerations from the Government. He suggests that this accountability should be done by the foundations voluntarily. However, Mr. Fleishman is an attorney and believes that if voluntary response is not forthcoming then new legal requirements should be placed upon them to require more openness.
Deserves serious reading from people who want to make a difference........2007-02-06
Joel Fleishman's book lays an excellent bedrock of history underneath its discussion of philanthropy as a great element of American tradition. We live in days of some staggering examples - from Warren Buffet's living bequest of billions, to the fine work of Bill and Melinda Gates - and many others. But rather than see this as some product of the new millennium - Fleishman shows how the new avatars of corporate generosity are following a fine tradition. More than this, the author shows that certain gifting strategies have been leveraged for huge social benefit. For those who are thinking - at whatever scale - of giving to support a cause, this book sets out the strategies that have produced most benefit. This is an excellent, thoughtful piece of work on a topic that currently has wide currency. Well worth reading.
Book Description
Change the entire school culture with this collaborative method of supervision.
For years, the classic supervision model has frustrated both principals and teachers by fostering superior-subordinate relationships, focusing on teacher conformity rather than growth, or producing checklist data that is irrelevant to the curriculum.
The Three-Minute Classroom Walk-Through offers a practical, time-saving alternative that impacts student achievement by cultivating self-reliant teachers who are continuously improving their practice.
Easy to understand and adopt, this method will answer the questions most important to principals:
- Is the work of my teachers aligned with the district curriculum?
- Are my teachers using research-based "best practices"?
- Are they choosing the instructional strategies that will promote student achievement?
Also known as the Downey Walk-through, the method presented in
The Three-Minute Classroom Walk-Through has been developed over a 40-year period, tested and refined in actual teaching environments, and taught internationally.
Also see:
The Three-Minute Classroom Walk-Through (Multimedia Kit)
Customer Reviews:
Th e Three-Minute Walk- Through.......2007-04-06
I was expecting something less technical and more user friendly. I will have to devote some time to reading this in the summer and then perhaps implement next year.
3 minute walk through easily applied-.......2007-02-21
This book was an easy read and had very practical, easy to put into practice, tips on observing classrooms. Time-saving techniques that still are quality practices.
Three Minute Classroom Walk-Through.......2005-07-28
An effective guide for pinpointing effective classroom instruction. This book also outlines specific strategies for engaging teachers in reflective dialogue that could enhance classroom instruction. A must read for administrators.
Average customer rating:
- Calculations are only as good as your numbers
- Pants on fire?
- Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed.
- Very Interesting
- History as Science Fiction
|
History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
Anatoly Fomenko
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Similar Items:
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History: Fiction or Science? Chronology 2 (Chronology)
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History: Fiction or Science? Astronomical methods as applied to chronology. Ptolemy's Almagest. Chronology III
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Discovering the Mysteries of Ancient America: Lost History And Legends, Unearthed And Explored
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Before the Pharaohs: Egypt's Mysterious Prehistory
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They Cast No Shadows: A Collection of Essays on the Illuminati, Revisionist History, and Suppressed Technologies
ASIN: 2913621058 |
Book Description
Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.
Customer Reviews:
Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03
Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.
Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19
Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.
Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09
There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.
For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.
Very Interesting.......2007-03-07
It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.
History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10
Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.
I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.
Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.
Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.
I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.
This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.
Book Description
How would people respond if they showed up at church one Sunday morning only to discover someone or something had actually, physically moved it? Undoubtedly, they would go out and find it! And that's what four unforgettable characters from Who Moved My Church? set out to do! But how they go about locating it and then how they respond and #151;and what they do and #151;once they find it is so different, you'd never guess they attend the same church. Ultimately, Nappa's parable will spur church attendees to tackle one of the enduring questions of Christian history: How is the Church to interact with culture? The question is all the more pressing for pastors and laity in light of dramatic and rapid changes taking place in society on what feels like a daily basis. Humorous, entertaining, and thought provoking, Who Moved My Church? will be the center of discussion in homes, small groups, Sunday-school classes and churches everywhere.
Customer Reviews:
Who Moved the Church?.......2007-06-26
Our Church building did move! It burned to the ground in 2003 and since then the different personalities mentioned in the book, not all, the folk can relate too. The Church building left the corner in the center of town and is now located on the edge as a Gateway into Town. Light reading and quick!
Who Moved My Church.......2003-03-18
A quick read and a good book and gets right to the point on the subject of problems in America and elsewhere. I cannot recommend it enough.
Read it many times and never forget it.
Overhyped and overpriced book - should have been a pamphlet.......2002-03-20
Do the earlier reviewers KNOW this author? I can't understand the rave reviews! Although this allegorical story is good, it's not EXCELLENT and it's not as great as its "press."
I have finished a borrowed hardback copy of the book and was incredibly disappointed with the fact that this was put in an expensive hardback book form when it should probably have been packaged as a pamphlet. It's 125 pages, yes, but with incredibly oversized top, bottom and left margins. The content is not worth the hardback price, in my opinion. THANK GOODNESS I didn't purchase it myself!
Easy To Read Winner.......2001-12-19
Who Moved My Church is an easy read. (I read it over a Saturday morning breakfast.) The book's overstated characters are amusing because we find parts of ourselves in them. Nappa uses this overstatement to make his point that we let our own agendas for what the church should be over-ride the mission Jesus has for the church -- to be a place where grace is found and shared.
Very enjoyable read, with an important call to action.......2001-11-14
After enjoying reading another book with a similar title, I was intrigued. I was not disappointed. This is a very enjoyable read, in a parable-like perspective, with an important, easy-to-grasp message that really hit me.
This book provides a unique look into contemporary thinking and belief systems when it comes to how Christians should interact with today's culture. How would I set out to rebuild a ministry if, suddenly, my comfort-zone disappeared? The author gave me a lot to think about with the introduction of several interesting characters who each set out to find their church after it mysteriously vanished from it's usual spot on the corner.
There are people I know who, like those in this book, do God's "work," but don't seem to get it. For one reason or another, they labor in vain. The isolationist, the socialist, the militant...all trying to do it on their own, thinking they have it all figured out, but completely oblivious to the end-game. This book made me aware that a little of each of these characters lives in me, and it was a good reminder of how to (and not-to) interact with our culture.
I would highly recommend this book.
Pros: Very inspiring and easy to read. Makes a great gift for pastors, and for those who are new to ministry, or perhaps had bad "religious" experiences.
Cons: Can't think of any!
Book Description
The Changing Role of Health Care Managers
A valuable guide that helps health care managers redefine their responsibilities so they can function more effectively in this dramatically evolving industry. The authors identify and describe the ten key role shifts
that are part of making the transition to a new, more dynamic style of leadership. Filled with questionnaires and step-by-step guidelines, this hands-on tool offers sound insights and nuts-and-bolts advice.
Customer Reviews:
This book will help you to win when the rules keep changing........1999-03-06
For the health care professional and staff, this valuable book is easily accessible in its length, writing style and content.We have used it as an enhancing adjunct to training programs in health care leadership,teamwork and customer service. The list of questions in each chapter provides an excellent discussion format for the individuals in medical practices and hospital departments to work together, before, during or after training to continuously improve the quality of their work - as partners in caring. Peter F. McGuire, MD President, Healthcare Dynamics Inc.
Average customer rating:
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Changing Pastors: A Resource for Pastoral Transitions
Mary Benet McKinney O.S.B.
Manufacturer: Sheed & Ward
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A Change of Pastors: ...and How It Affects Change in the Congregation
ASIN: 1556129610 |
Book Description
This book offers a new, comprehensive method for transition that allows time for the parish and pastor to successfully adjust and navigate through major change.
Customer Reviews:
a one of a kind.......2000-04-12
This book should be given out to every parish going through a change in pastoral leadership! Too often this difficult process has been left to the hierarchy to mangage. Parish communities are then kept from taking responsibility for their own grief, anger, and loss. This is a gem of a book. It could help your community embrace the call of Vatican II by working together with the Bishop to help your parish manage the difficulties of change.
Book Description
Ricardo Semler thinks that companies ought to put employee freedom and satisfaction ahead of corporate goals.
Imagine a company where employees set their own hours; where there are no offices, no job titles, no business plans; where employees get to endorse or veto any new venture; where kids are encouraged to run the halls; and where the CEO lets other people make nearly all the decisions. This company—Semco—actually exists, and despite a seeming recipe for chaos, its revenues have grown from $35 million to $160 million in the last six years. It has virtually no staff turnover, and there are no signs that its growth will stop any time soon.
How did Semco become wildly successful despite breaking many of the commonly accepted laws of business? In The Seven-Day Weekend, Ricardo Semler shows that for those willing to take a chance, there is a better way to run a workplace. He explains how the technology that was supposed to make life easier—laptops, cell phones, e-mail, pagers—has in fact stolen free time and destroyed the traditional nine-to-five workday. But this can be a good thing—if you have the freedom to get your job done on your own terms and to blend your work life and personal life with enthusiasm and creative energy. Smart bosses will eventually realize that you might be most productive if you work on Sunday afternoon, play golf on Monday morning, go to a movie on Tuesday afternoon, and watch your child play soccer on Thursday.
This is a radical book that will challenge the business world to make the seven-day weekend a reality.
Customer Reviews:
A workplace for the 21st century... for real!.......2007-08-31
Ricardo Semler became quite popular more then twenty years ago when he tragically and unexpectedly inherited Semco, the family company located in Brazil (originally operating in the naval technology field) from his father. Young and inexperienced he ended up making many mistakes until he realized that the entire traditional `military, command and control' way to manage a company had to be totally and radically changed. He implemented the changes swiftly and Semco has been a successful, unusual, `radical' company since then.
This is Semler's second book, filled with ideas, practices and tools to implement meaningful changes within organizations; changes aiming to reorganize companies both physically and culturally "by constantly questioning the way that we do things". What are these changes all about? Here is a quote that sets to tone of Semler's ideas that have become common practice at Semco (a company with over 200 million dollars in revenues and with a double digit growth during the last 10 years): "Semco has no official structure. It has no organizational chart. There is no business plan or company strategy, no two-year of five-year plan, no goal or mission statement, no long term budget. The company often does not have a fixed CEO. There are no vice presidents or chief officers for information technology or operations. There are no standards nor practices. There's no human resources department. There are no career plans, no job descriptions or employee contracts. No one approves reports or expense accounts. Supervision or monitoring of workers is rare indeed. Most important, success is not measured only in profit and growth."
How can a company be run this way and endure, actually achieving growth and profits within today's extremely competitive market's dynamics? The book articulates ideas and practices that make all of this possible; ideas and practices that spring, according to me, from two pivotal concepts: Driven by Discovery vs Driven by Control; "Nothing but Intuitive Values in Place!". Let's explore them briefly.
Driven by Discovery vs Driven by Control
The key concept is to create a productive environment in which the people clearly perceive that are treated and brought to act as responsible and well informed adults. People should be brought to act driven by a sense of discovery tied to the self-interest (pay attention, Semler points out that the key is the self-interest, not the organizational one) to discover and express their talents (mostly the hidden ones!). Semler points out the concept: "We can't train people to turn them into what we want. Mostly, we want nothing. We don't like training manuals, nor do we ask people where they want to be in five years. We want them to amble and ramble. If they happen to be on a fixed path, we'll gladly help them train for that, but instead of formal training, we encourage people to ask a colleague for explanations, demonstrations, and guidance. Information in any organization should be information on demand". There are no big plans `from the top' that manage strategically and operationally the organization, for this there is no need of control but simply the need of willingness and determination in making sure that a spirit of discovery spreads itself and it is constantly fueled within the company. "Treat them as responsible and well informed adults" is the powerful and controversial principle at the basis of Semco unique reality. A principle that is controversial because goes against many of the practices in place in most organizations. Semler is quite aware of this and traces back the problem to what he considers its root: the need to `de-program' people from the habits created by society and culture, habits that often make of any job a meaningless chore, "Avoid routine and steer clear of habit". At Semco self discovery and expression of the own talents at work is an essential part of working. Semler observes that many people know how to manage well their time and work on many task during their off time during the weekend, then when on Monday show up at work somehow they lose this sense of vitality. The title of the book `The seven-day weekend' becomes the goal: make of the workplace an environment in which people are brought to express their passions, talents and skills just as they do during their weekends! Here are simple roots of discovery vs control!
"Nothing but Intuitive Values in Place!"
Semler defines intuition as "the fuel of choice for rambling through the seven-day weekend" adding "people have to be encouraged to act on instinct , because by-the-book management leaves companies vulnerable, or otherwise its potency as a tool will be lost". Here it is the strong connection between today's challenging market, societal and economic dynamics and the `discovery vs control' mindset. This is why Semler asserts openly that "Semco's most precious asset is the wisdom of its workforce, and our success grows out of our employees' success". It is important to point out that this not a rhetorical statement empty of its meaning in the day to day work within the company. The ideas and practices of the book are bound to shock many of us and fully demonstrate what it means to truly believe in empowering people and having owners and top managers give up control. Many managers and entrepreneurs from all over the world go to visit Semco trying to understand what the company is all about. They understand the concepts and practices quite well, yet few of them have the courage and the vision to actually implement them! When you make of intuition a key driving force at any level or your organization you truly make every single person to lever its decision making and work upon experience and knowledge. This process truly depends upon the development and utilization of people's passions and talents driven by their own interest, the interest of the company comes second and it is a by product of the first. As Semler says this practice "is messy, inefficient, and hugely rewarding". The `Semco approach' cannot be implemented to bits and pieces, it is fully integrated with several key aspects, for example: the way that retributions are set (by the people!); time is managed (at Semco it is possible to `retire' at 40 and go back to work at 60!); trust is nurtured on a daily basis in so many ways that are a joy to read about! All of this based upon the "treat them as responsible and well informed" adults concept.
When I learned about Semler (about 10 years ago) I was really intrigued by what they were able to do at Semco. I admired those practices and ideas and I enjoyed the spontaneous, open, straightforward, trial-and-error way they came about. I also though that Semco was some sort of `world apart' and I felt that their practices were way too radical to become some sort of `model' for other companies. Nowadays I believe that market, economic and societal trends are leading all of us to pay closer attention to the `quirky ways' of that Brazilian company. May be this is why Ricardo Semler himself is at present a visiting scholar at Harvard... The key starting challenge (and too often the `show stopper') is to have business owners and top managers understand and apply on a daily basis the `discovery vs control' principle. Who is willing to take on the challenge? We are ready to help! Focusing on the relevance of INTUITION in today's organizations would be already a good start...
The Seven-day Weekend.......2007-08-07
This book may be an eye-opener for someone who has been living under a rock, but my guess is that for most people who actually read this book all the talk about loosening control and trusting people will be preaching to the converted. My main interest was to learn about how to make such a setup work. But following the tradition of management literature, the advice is offered through stories and anecdotes. While this makes the book very readable, it does leave some gaps... So until an anthropologist manages to infiltrate the company and produce something more systematic and objective, I guess we'll either have to make do with this book -- or apply for a job at Semco to see for ourselves :-)
A New Way to Work that Works.......2007-03-16
Semco, Ricardo Semler's privately held Brazilian company is hard to describe, mostly because it looks and acts so different from what we expect a company to be. That's why Semler devotes the first chapter of Seven Day Weekend to telling us what Semco is and does and what makes it a different place to work. At the end of the chapter, he says this:
"Although I still can't definitely answer the question about what Semco does do, I can say we've changed the way work works and improved the quality of our lives - and so can you."
After reading Seven Day Weekend, I still can't tell you exactly what it's about. But I can say that it will change the way you think about work and open up new possibilities for you.
There's a lot of talk these days about changing the workplace and making it more democratic and self-organizing and participative. We've seen pieces of this at places like WL Gore and, more recently at Best Buy. We've read the business press articles and pundit opinions.
But the fact is that if we are going to see significant workplace change on a large scale, there will need to be more companies that act like Semco. The owners of those companies will have to try things out and show us. That's what Ricardo Semler has done.
If you want to see how the wisdom of crowds works out in a company, it's in here. If you want to see how democratic principles work out in management, that's here, too. And if you want to see things about self-organizing and self-managing work groups and chaos theory, that's here too.
But Seven Day Weekend is not a how-to manual. You won't come out of it with a bunch of checklists or bulleted lists of sure-fire techniques. You will improve your understanding of a few key points
* People can be trusted to make decisions that are not only in their best interests, but in the company's best interest.
* In most cases, following the natural law of things works at least as well and often better than trying to control and direct.
* Strategy Semco-style is about building on talents and following ideas and not about master plans.
You will want to know if Semco has been successful in a traditional business way. It has been extravagantly successful, growing revenue and profits at 40 percent per year for two decades. Not only that, the company survived the convulsions in the Brazilian economy in the 1980s and 1990s.
And you'll want to ask Ricardo Semler about how he works as CEO and how he controls things. Here's his answer.
"I don't. I let the system work for itself."
The bottom line is that you should read this book because it will give you a window into a very different way of working and organizing a business. It's a system that's uncommon as well as uncommonly successful. And it's a system we can learn from.
Good ideas, not applicable to everyone.......2007-02-18
This book has some revolutionary and great ideas. It is inspiring, but not necessarily applicable to everyone. I recommend the book for someone who is looking for fresh and new approaches to management. However, if you are looking for immediate solutions, this may not be what you are looking for. I will re-read this book for sure though.
The Pursuit of Happiness .......2006-12-25
I read both of Ricardo Semler's books, Maverick! and Seven Day Weekend prior to watching the film about Enron. As a 22 year old dreamer, idealist, pragmatist, and economics student, I feel blessed to have been given the opportunity to see the opposite ends of the capitalist spectrum. There's so much knowledge to be learned from the two companies, Enron and Semco. Semco is everything Enron wasn't and is making profit while empowering its employees like no other company on the planet. Business does not have to be analogous to war. Enron's motto was `ask why' and nobody ever did, Ricardo Semler's motto is `ask why' and he hasn't stopped asking. Ricardo Semler will be regarded as the most influential CEO of the 21st century, mark my words.
Download Description
Diagnosing and Changing Organizational Culture provides a framework, a sense-making tool, a set of systematic steps, and a methodology for helping managers and their organizations carefully analyze and alter their fundamental culture. Authors, Cameron and Quinn focus on the methods and mechanisms that are available to help managers and change agents transform the most fundamental elements of their organizations. The authors also provide instruments to help individuals guide the change process at the most basic level culture. Diagnosing and Changing Organizational Culture offers a systematic strategy for internal or external change agents to facilitate foundational change that in turn makes it possible to support and supplement other kinds of change initiatives.
Customer Reviews:
Useful.Practical........2006-11-06
Help in good manner to diagnose culture in organization. Have developed based on their approach a light software application.Very useful. Help to develop competency models based on cultural approach.
Interesting Model.......2004-03-04
The model presented is an interesting and for the most part effective one. For an alternative model see O'Reilly, Chatman and Caldwell's OCP Method and in particular the commercially available web tools from ThinkShed (www.thinkshed.com) that leverage the method.
Whichever method you use, culture change is ultimately about the application of a consistent approach...my personal preference is the OCP because of the availability of robust web based tools that enable one to penetrate the organization to a much deeper level than is otherwise possible with a paper based model or an interview based model. This can be important if you are wanting to get at deeply rooted and/or problematic sub-cultures.
Smith
Great book, plus..........2003-06-23
This is a great book. In addition, I recommend "Strategic Organizational Change" by Michael Beitler.
The most helpful book..........2003-06-23
This is the most helpful book available on organizational culture. Their OCAI instrument (for diagnosing organizational culture) alone is worth more than the price of the book. I use Cameron & Quinn's material with every one of my clients.
Dr. Michael Beitler
Author of "Strategic Organizational Change"
A remarkable tool.......2003-02-21
The authors provide a great model for understanding and diagnosing organizations. Their cultural quandrant methodology also provides a common language for people within an organization to talk about what they have and what they want. I recommend this for everyone who wants to understand their own organization. Their instrument (OCAI) is both easy to understand and easy to use.
Book Description
In this groundbreaking book, organizational effectiveness experts Edward Lawler and Christopher Worley show how organizations can be “built to change” so they can last and succeed in today’s global economy. Instead of striving to create a highly reliable Swiss watch that consistently produces the same behavior, they argue organizations need to be designed in ways that stimulate and facilitate change. Built to Change focuses on identifying practices and designs that organizations can adopt so that they are able to change. As Lawler and Worley point out, organizations that foster continuous change
- Are closely connected to their environments
- Reward experimentation
- Learn about new practices and technologies
- Commit to continuously improving performance
- Seek temporary competitive advantages
Download Description
In this groundbreaking book, organizational effectiveness experts Edward Lawler and Christopher Worley show how organizations can be built to change so they can last and succeed in today's global economy. Instead of striving to create a highly reliable Swiss watch that consistently produces the same behavior, they argue organizations need to be designed in ways that stimulate and facilitate change. Built to Change focuses on identifying practices and designs that organizations can adopt so that they are able to change. As Lawler and Worley point out, organizations that foster continuous change Are closely connected to their environments Reward experimentation Learn about new practices and technologies Commit to continuously improving performance Seek temporary competitive advantages
Customer Reviews:
A Primer of Change Concepts.......2007-08-27
In this easy to read compilation of business concepts to deal with constantly changing external environmental factors driven by the global economy, academics Lawler and Worley introduce their `B2Change' Model. Using the term identity, to describe an organization's core values, behaviors, and beliefs; the authors use several Fortune 500 examples to argue that continuously Strategizing, Designing, and Creating Value around the organization's identity are the primary contributors to organizational effectiveness. It is hard to argue with these descriptors of widely acknowledged, critical, organizational drivers.
The book follows the discussion of the B2Change Model with an overview of various structural options, information requirements and decision making processes, people management, and leadership thoughts before closing with a chapter on the features of a Built-to-Change Organization. During these discussions they promote; leadership teams as being more useful than a single hero-leader, team evaluations over individual performance appraisals, rewards that motivate performance, and a shift away from the job to the individual as the building block for an organization's design (the Me Inc. concept). All these and the many other ideas for adapting to change are often given life thru the use of business examples. The book is recommended for students of organizational change looking for an overview of management concepts that support change.
Change the way we change.......2007-06-13
Brilliant! the book introduce a new approach to change. Out of the box thinking, to the point, and very insightful. Sharp writers that make a different in the way we think and operate.
Very Good Book!!!.......2007-01-09
This is a very good book. For those interested in creating an organization that is designed to view change as "normal" business--this book is excellent reading. I teach organizational leadership--I have added this to the required reading list in a change management/research course.
Clear roadmap for the future: how to change continuously.......2006-08-10
This is a bold, fascinating and occasionally dangerous book, which we recommend to those who want to plan carefully and honestly for the future. Why "carefully" and "honestly?" Because authors Edward E. Lawler III and Christopher G. Worley are savvy enough to identify the kind of organization best suited for a business environment shaped by continuous change - and bold enough to prescribe the actions leaders must take to survive in this environment. These actions require care and honesty because they differ so fundamentally from many past business practices. For example, the idea of continually re-planning your market position sounds straightforward. However, to then eliminate all employees who have done great work, but whose skill base does not match the firm's new portfolio, is risky and requires great faith in your vision. As the authors repeatedly note, the future is difficult to predict, and impossible to predict completely. What's more, for individual managers to examine their organizations, see that they no longer fit and voluntarily step aside will require rigorous honesty and responsibility. They would need to have planned their careers and finances well enough that self-interest does not blind them. Many of this book's ideas have a similar nature. They seem good and right, but applying them successfully will require great discipline.
Organizations that cannot change cannot survive, much less prosper........2006-08-08
Obviously, if organizations are not "built to change," they cannot effectively respond to inevitable changes in their competitive marketplace. Moreover, they may be able to achieve some temporary success but cannot sustain it over a period of time. In the Foreword, Jerry Porras briefly but brilliantly explores two themes: "First, leaders must understand their organization's values, and work to shape them in such a way that those values guide and sustain needed changes rather than undermine them. Second, leaders must architect their organizations to embrace rather than resist change." Co-authors Lawler and Worley see this volume as a sequel to Jim Collins' Built to Last because, in it, they explain "what organizations need to do once they have developed the foundation for survival and want to increase their effectiveness over time." This seems to be the same objective which Collins set for himself in his own sequel, Good to Great.
What they call the "B2Change Model" consists of Environmental Scenarios (which describe a range of possible future business conditions an identifies "preferred futures") and three primary organizational processes which contribute to organizational effectiveness. Strategizing (a process by which to establish priorities so that by having a "strategic intent"). Only after concluding this process can an organization then initiate the other two processes, Creating Value through competencies and capabilities, and, Designing the structures and other processes that enable an organization to achieve sustained effectiveness enterprise-wide. Step by step, with both rigor and eloquence, Lawler and Worley explain how any organization (regardless of size or nature) can do this, guided and informed by the B2Change Model.
In the final chapter, they make several key points. First, that making the transition to a B2Change organization is much more difficult than operating one. Also, that each of the three processes is more changeable and more flexible than the prior one. However, the designing process is the key to developing the competencies and capabilities that are needed to implement a strategic intent. They identify five key initiatives on the road to becoming B2Change and then discuss them in the order in which they recommend implementation. (They are listed on page 287.) They also explain how certain key elements can support an organization's focus on its external environment so that everyone involved understands change as a natural process. "Creating a change-friendly identity is a fundamental step in becoming a b2change organization." Still another key point involves what Lawler and Worley see as the final initiative: bringing all of the prior processes together in a virtuous spiral. "Virtuous spirals - periods in the life of an organization - are characterized by critical configuration, proximity, and dynamic alignment. They are built and sustained by a series of temporary competitive advantages."
I am reminded of what Peter Drucker observed in 1963: "There is surely nothing quite so useless as doing with great efficiency what should not be done at all." That is precisely why Lawler and Worley place such great emphasis on the first process of the B2Change Model, Strategizing. It is absolutely imperative that proper organizational priorities and an organization's strategic intend be established first. Otherwise, completion of the second and third processes may well be flawless but ultimately worthless.
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- The Khrushchev Era 1953-1964 (Seminar Studies in History Series)
- The Knowledge-Creating Company: How Japanese Companies Create the Dynamics of Innovation
- The Measure of a Man: A Spiritual Autobiography (Oprah's Book Club)
- The Next Great Globalization: How Disadvantaged Nations Can Harness Their Financial Systems to Get Rich
- The Small-Mart Revolution: How Local Businesses Are Beating the Global Competition (BK Currents)
- The Wages of Destruction: The Making and Breaking of the Nazi Economy
- The World Is Flat [Updated and Expanded]: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century
- Thomson Advantage Books: Comparative Politics: Political Economy, Political Culture, and Political Interdependence
- Toward a North American Community: Lessons from the Old World for the New
- Trade Policy and Global Poverty
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