Blog
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Blog / ChangeThis
Moving Beyond Competing
By W. Chan Kim, Renee Mauborgne
"For us, as business scholars, the world we aspired to help advance wasn't one defined by competing and dividing up markets or the globe, where one's gain comes at the expense of others. Competition exists, and win-lose scenarios abound, but they weren't what captured our imaginations, nor what we believed our world needed more of. What we admired, what inspired us, were the organizations and individuals that went beyond competing to create new frontiers of opportunity, growth, and jobs, where success was not about dividing up an existing, often shrinking pie, but about creating a larger economic pie for all—what we refer to as blue oceans. Blue oceans are less about disruption and more about nondisruptive creation, where one's gain doesn't have to come at the expense of others. But how do you translate aspiration into action, intention into reality?"
Categories: changethis
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Blog / ChangeThis
Ding Dong the Witch is Dead! The Fall of Homo Economicus and the Rise of Design Thinking
By Jeanne Liedtka
"It is hard to think of a more flawed theory that has had as much of an impact on organizational life as that of the 'rational man' of neoclassical economics: an unfeeling automaton, driven by analytic assessments of economic utility and the pursuit of self-interest. [. . . ] But it's not only economists who retreat to abstraction and analytics for comfort—organizational leaders often have the same inclinations. This creates especially dramatic problems when we are trying to accomplish change—because change is about human beings, first and foremost. The 'messiness' our management approaches so often try to avoid is, essentially, our humanness. In our desire for predictability, control and simplicity, we eliminate consideration of the reality of the human experience. Our behavior reflects our emotions as well as our presumed 'rationality'—we inhabit realities that are subjectively interpreted through our own unique backgrounds and experiences. Ultimately, change requires that a particular set of human beings behave in new ways.
Categories: changethis
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Blog / ChangeThis
How to Move from Just Making Money to Making a Difference
By Porchlight
"Think about it, since most of us are knowledge workers, we are likely going to live considerably longer lives. In fact, most of us will have another 30 years or more after the time that the previous generation was retiring and sailing off into the sunset with the gold watch. And, here's the kicker: those extra 30 years could turn out to be the most productive and satisfying years of our lives if we only figure out how to make the transition. We begin the season of halftime with that feeling of smoldering discontent. But if we make the transition successfully into our second half, we emerge with a clear purpose, plan, and focus that will allow us to finish well and live a life of true significance."
Categories: changethis
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Blog / New Releases
Do Big Things: The Simple Steps Teams Can Take to Mobilize Hearts and Minds, and Make an Epic Impact
By Porchlight
Craig Ross, Angela Paccione, and Victoria Roberts are obsessed with answering one question: How do you equip a team to deliver big things?
Categories: new-releases
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Blog / Excerpts
Creating Great Choices: A Leader's Guide to Integrative Thinking
By Porchlight
Jennifer Riel and Roger Martin write about the importance of creating room for understanding, and the empathy that grows from it—one of three core principles at the heart of a better decision-making process.
Categories: excerpts
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Blog / Book Giveaways
We Need to Talk: How to Have Conversations That Matter
By Porchlight
Public radio host Celeste Headlee offers "an informative, timely, and practical guide to the lost—and essential—art of conversation."
Categories: giveaways
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Blog / Editor's Choice
Creating Great Choices: A Leader's Guide to Integrative Thinking
Book Review by Porchlight
Jennifer Riel and Roger Martin have written an essential how-to book on integrative thinking.
Categories: editors-choice
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Blog / New Releases
MOM.B.A.: Essential Business Advice from One Generation to the Next
By Porchlight
Karyn Schoenbart provides the type of advice that would propel your career and allow you to overcome the many stumbling blocks that keep people from fulfilling their full potential at work.
Categories: new-releases, narrative-biography
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Blog / Book Giveaways
Attack of the Fifty Foot Women: How Gender Equality Can Save The World!
By Porchlight
Catharine Mayer offers us a vision of Equalia—"a fully gender-equal society in which every inhabitant could stand as tall as the next person."
Categories: giveaways
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Blog / Excerpts
Streampunks: Youtube and the Rebels Remaking Media
By Porchlight
YouTube’s chief business officer, Robert Kyncl, and Google speechwriter Maany Peyvan have teamed up to take you on a revelatory ride through the new media rebellion that is reshaping our world.
Categories: excerpts