“Whatever the composition of a firm, if it is to do good business it should be a place where everyone is encouraged to progress toward complexity- or at the very least a place that does not make it more difficult to achieve personal growth.” IfsShouldDoeDifficultGrowthProgressAchievePersonal GrowthFirmComplexityCompositionGood Business Author:Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
“Historical science is not worse, more restricted, or less capable of achieving firm conclusions because experiment, prediction, and subsumption under invariant laws of nature do not represent its usual working methods. The sciences of history use a different mode of explanation, rooted in the comparative and observational richness in our data. We cannot see a past event directly, but science is usually based on inference, not unvarnished observation (you don't see electrons, gravity, or black holes either).” DifferentUsePastLawBlackAchieveEventsCapableMethodExperimentsHolesConclusionObservationDataFirmExplanationUsualGravityRootedPredictionsLaws Of NatureRichnessBlack HoleElectronsInferencePast Events Author:Stephen Jay Gould
“Although a firm swat could bring a recalcitrant child swiftly into line, the changes were usually external, lasting only as long as the swatter remained in view....Permanent transformation had to be internal....The habits of self discipline, as laborious and frustrating as they were to achieve, offered the only real possibility of keeping children safe from their own excesses as well as the omnipresent dangers of society.” WellsChildrenLongRealSelfLinesViewsAchieveDangerPossibilityHabitDisciplineSafeTransformationPermanentFirmInternalsLastingExcessSelf DisciplineFrustratingRecalcitrant Author:Mary Blakely
“One of the best ways to make growth personal is to give employees a share in their firm, a real incentive to go the extra mile, more of a 'John Lewis Economy' if you like...We know that firms where employees are engaged and own a stake do at least as well as other companies in the good times and have performed even better in recent bad times. Expanding and recruiting at a much faster rate and achieving better productivity...So, why do they make up just 2% of our business landscape?” IfsKnowsWayGivingWellsRealGrowthCompanyEconomyShareAchieveRateProductivityMilesBest WayFasterLandscapeFirmEngagedExtrasEmployeeGood TimesStakesExpandingIncentivesBad TimesExtra Mile Author:Nick Clegg
“Change efforts happen when a firm is out of alignment with achieving its vision. If the organization has broad buy-in on a clear vision, the need for change becomes much clearer. It also helps to over-communicate what you're doing and why you're doing it. Lastly, the leadership needs to spend as much time on "how" changes are being made and "what" changes are being made. Human beings are involved and there are winners and losers.” HelpingEffortVisionAchieveWinnerFirmLoserAlignment Author:Robert S. Kaplan