ChangeThis: Issue 71

Ladies and gentleman, it's the 71th issue of ChangeThis. Excerpts and links below.

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Plenitude: A Statement On Economics, Ecology & True Wealth by Juliet Schor

"Business-as-usual economics relies on stimulating GNP to solve virtually all problems. But GNP is increasingly de-linked from the well-being of most Americans. Since the mid 1970s, it has diverged from most social well-being indicators. So even if GNP does continue to grow, and the recession is officially declared over, the implications for most households are different from in the past."

How To Shrink the Human Footprint: And How Going Back To Nature Would Be a Disaster For Nature by Matt Ridley

"I am going to argue that the ecological footprint of human activity is probably shrinking at an accelerating rate and that we are getting more sustainable, not less, in the way we use the planet. In a nutshell, the most sustainable thing we can do, and the best for the planet, is to accelerate technological change and economic growth."

The Four-Letter Word That Makes You and Your Work Irresistible
by Mark Sanborn

"Some years ago I wrote a book about an extraordinary individual who loves his work. My editor at the time deleted the word love every place I used it. Instead, he suggested using the phrase 'generosity of spirit.'

'Why not love?' I inquired.

'Because the word love freaks out businesspeople,' he responded."

Achieving Predictable Success by Les McKeown

"As a serial entrepreneur who has personally launched over 40 businesses, and as a consultant and coach to hundreds of business leaders, I've come to realize that the 'growth code' is out there, in plain view for anyone who knows where to look. There is indeed a code, a pattern, a DNA if you will, to achieving predictable success. The difficulty is that because most business leaders work in a limited number of business environments during their career, they don't have the opportunity to see the pattern recur often enough to successfully decode it."

Management By Shared Mindset: Leadership That Makes Work Meaningful and Profitable At the Same Time by Dave Ulrich & Wendy Ulrich

"In the last few years, leaders have been encouraged to be bold, confident, authentic and grounded so that they can make decisions that help get things done. In the economic recession, these leaders responded quickly and decisively. We admire leaders who lead. But, we suggest that coming out of the recession, leaders need to shift their approach to lead by becoming meaning makers."

168 Hours: The Blank Slate of Timeby Laura Vanderkam

"It is an unquestioned truth of modern life: we are all starved for time. With the rise of 2-income families, extreme jobs, and the ability to log on to the world around the clock, we can barely find time to breathe.

At least that's the way the story goes. Yet there are some people who don't seem to feel this way. Not only do they have full personal and professional lives, they often claim they could fit more in if they wished!

How do these people do so much with their time? How do they do so much and not even feel stressed about it?"