Quotessence
Home / Authors / Peter Block
Peter Block

Peter Block Quotes

Author

Filter quotes by topic

AllLearningKnowledgeManagementPeopleIfsNeedsDoeWayWorldBelieve

Famous Peter Block Quotes

“The pay strategy for those at the top is to find a way to pay them as much as possible. In larger organizations there is a special section or person in charge of executive compensation. Their task is to design pay packages that will retain top executives. They work with the full menu of pay options. Special tax-deferred retirement plans, stock options, corporate living arrangements, low-interest loans, termination guarantees, plus bonus plans where 30 to 50 percent bonuses are feasible. In contrast, there is a separate compensation unit that is responsible for non-executive pay practices. Their focus is on pay strategies for people at the middle and bottom. The goal there is to attract and retain good people, but to do it by paying them as little as possible. The common way of talking about it is to say that we need to work hard at controlling labor costs. When we say that, though, we are only thinking of low-power people. It is this class distinction that results in the incongruence of massive layoffs and record profits and executive bonuses all in the same year. Our beliefs about pay systems reinforce the inequitable distribution of wealth and sanction the belief that Wall Street is our primary customer and it is fine with us if our leaders are more interested in building a career and personal wealth than in building a human organization.”

CompensationClass StruggleRedistribution Of Wealth1993
Book:Stewardship: Choosing Service Over Self-Interest
Create image

“I discovered that resolution of conflict comes from people being able to express their own feelings and their own needs in the face of another. Making agreements and setting goals without building upon the feelings of the parties involved is empty, because it does not consider the vulnerabilities of our own humanity.”

PeopleNeedsDoeFeelingsAbleFacesHumanityGoalLeadershipPartyBuildingInvolvedConflictConscienceEmptySettingSettingsVulnerabilityAgreementResolutionSetting Goals
Author:Peter Block
Create image

“Dissent is the cousin of diversity; the respect for a wide range of beliefs. This begins by allowing people the space to say "no". If we cannot say "no" then our "yes" has no meaning. Each needs the chance to express their doubts and reservations, without having to justify them, or move quickly into problem solving. No is the beginning of the conversation for commitment.”

PeopleIfsNeedsProblemMovingBeliefChanceSpaceDoubtConversationDiversityCommitmentWideRangeJustifyAllowingCollaborationProblem SolvingCousinDissentReservations
Author:Peter Block
Create image

“Relationship and connectedness are the pre-condition for change. Every meeting, every process, every training program has to get people connected first. Otherwise the content falls on deaf ears. So small groups are an essential building block to any future you want to create.”

PeopleWantFirstsFallProcessKnowledgeLearningGroupsConditionsBuildingEssentialsTrainingProgramEarsManagementMeetingsConnectedBlockDeafSmall GroupsConnectednessBuilding BlocksTraining ProgramsDeaf Ears
Author:Peter Block
Create image

“Invitation is not only a step in bringing people together, it is also a fundamental way of being in a community. It manifests the willingness to live in a collaborative way. This means that a future can be created without having to force or sell it or barter for it. When we believe that barter or subtle coercion is necessary, we are operating out of a context of scarcity and self-interest, the core currencies of the economist.”

PeopleWayBelieveMeanSelfTogetherForceInterestCommunityStepsFundamentalsSellsCoreSubtleWillingnessCurrencyEconomistInvitationsSelf InterestCoercionScarcity
Author:Peter Block
Create image