ChangeThis: Issue 69

We've just posted a new issue of ChangeThis manifestos for you to dig around in. You can start digging with the links and excerpts below.

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What the Creative World Needs Now Is Organization by Scott Belsky

"Although we, as creative minds, would rather not think about it, the sad truth is that most of our ideas will never see the light of day. Indeed, brilliant breakthroughs are conceived and plundered in the hands of creative geniuses all the time. But why?

[...]

Great execution starts with supreme organization. Ultimately, organization comes down to how you manage your energy. Contrary to popular belief, organization is not about "neatness," it is about efficiency and allowing yourself to take action as swiftly as possible."

Economic Integrity: How Wealth Is Built on Trust and What That Means for Our Future by Anna Bernasek

""For too long, the economics profession has minimized the critical role of cooperation in economic activity. Emphasis on the individual has risen above all else and overshadowed the profound ways we depend on each other. You may have heard a successful businessperson boast, 'I did it all myself.' I want to interrupt at that point. Every successful business requires the cooperative effort of many people—the banker who believes in the business plan, the customer who trusts the product, the employee who devotes precious time to the business and its owners."

The Death and Life of Corporate Responsibility
by Jeffrey Hollender and Bill Breen

"Corporate responsibility—the notion that companies should include the public interest in all their decision-making—has never been so popular. Nor has it so often proved so phony.

[...]

Despite the surging interest in conscientious capitalism, there remains a yawning chasm between what companies say they value and what they actually do.

Or don't do."

Get a Life, Not a Job: Self-Directed Career Acts and the Future of Careers by Paula Caligiuri, Ph.D.

"With the downturn in the economy, the elimination of jobs, and the increased desire for work-life balance, people are looking for more stability, greater fulfillment, and increased satisfaction from work. Unfortunately, most people are still operating with an old set of career rules that no longer apply to today's employment reality.

Now is the time to take control of your career destiny so you can enjoy greater work-life balance, security fulfillment and satisfaction. The secret lies in understanding the new employment reality and rewriting the rules of what a career can be."

Bring Strategy Back from the Dead by Walter Kiechel

"The vultures are circling. 'Strategy, as we knew it, is dead,' proclaims Walt Shill, head of Accenture's North American consulting practice. A January 25 Wall Street Journal article quotes him explaining, 'Corporate clients decided that increased flexibility and accelerated decision-making are much more important than simply predicting the future.' A recent white paper from the Boston Consulting Group hung similar crepe. In its research on global powerhouses the firm found some saying they don't 'do strategy' any more.

So... Is it time to consign all your three-ring binders of strategic plans to a funeral pyre, maybe heaping the corporate planner onto the blaze for good measure? Well, yes—and no."

Enterprise by Tom Peters

"Enterprise* (*at its best):

An emotional, vital, innovative, joyful, creative, entrepreneurial endeavor that maximizes individuals' growth and elicits maximum concerted human potential in the wholehearted service of others.

On the one hand, this definition is pretty high-stepping. Idealistic beyond the realm of common sense. But examine it ... one word at a time."