an online book by David Gurteen
Once upon a time, there was a Chinese farmer whose horse ran away. That evening, all of his neighbors came around to commiserate. They said, “We are so sorry to hear your horse has run away. This is most unfortunate.” The farmer said, “Maybe.” The next day the horse came back bringing seven wild horses with it, and in the evening everybody came … | Alan Watts Continue reading The Story of the Chinese Farmer Alan Watts
Conversational leadership replaces the simplicity of monologue with the unpredictable vitality of dialogue. Conversation is open and fluid rather than closed and directive. To make it work, leaders need to cultivate the art of listening to people at all levels, and speaking with them directly and authentically. | Boris Groysberg and Michael Slind Continue reading Conversational Leadership Replaces Monologue with Dialogue Boris Groysberg and Michael Slind, 2012
We often assume that if we understand causes, we can predict outcomes. In complex situations, cause and effect are only clear in retrospect, so prediction can mislead and overconfidence can grow. Working with small experiments, noticing emerging patterns, and adjusting as we go offers a more grounded way forward. Continue reading In Complex Situations Cause and Effect Can Only Be Understood in Retrospect Why prediction breaks down in complex situations
What Would Make a Better World? Personal Power ** Close Pop-up all posts in this chapter What’s the Vibe? Please be patient as this may take up to a minute to load… Close Predicting the future is a fool’s errand, but we can help create it. We live in a complex socio-technical system — a Continue reading Predicting the Future Is a Fools’ Errand ** But we can help create it
We often construct false narratives in complex situations to make the past seem predictable. This habit, called retrospective coherence, hides the actual uncertainty of past events. Understanding this bias allows us to see complexity more clearly and avoid oversimplifying decisions and outcomes. Continue reading Retrospective Coherence in a Complex World How oversimplified narratives distort the past and hinder decision-making
In our hyperconnected world, complexity has surged, leading to heightened volatility, uncertainty, and ambiguity. This increased complexity poses significant challenges in predicting outcomes, planning for the future, and understanding global events. Continue reading Our World Is Complex It is a VUCA world
