Executive Director of the Center for Leadership & Strategic Thinking at the Foster School of Business University of Washington.
University of Washington
Joined September 2010
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Hiding in organizations is a self-concepts/identities. Sometimes one. Sometimes 100K. U change organizations 1 self-concept at a time.
It's not a dead end. In science we have to know the unit of analysis to measure & change something. What is the unit of analysis here?
Working on a new book that focuses on how one transforms organizations. The first principle is that you can't change an organization. darn.
Most companies aren't democracies. Those who work in them oftentimes don't get leaders they deserve. You get a choice not to work for them.
Dictatorships do not produce leaders that countries deserve. They produce leaders whose citizens have lost their choice. Big difference.
To be clear, by deserve, I'm not taking a position on the choice. Rather, being a democracy reflects the country that produced the choice.
Democracy provides citizens with the opportunity to elect the leader representing the majority's choice. Thus, we get the leader we deserve.
Maybe in Seattle, we are more attuned to benefits of misdirection vs. a single dominant direction. May explain magicians of innovation here.
Related to context. Kids r less susceptible to misdirection by magicians vs. adults. Adults focus & miss context where there is misdirecton.
Some things come to mind. Contrasts r interesting vs threatening. Weird is entertaining not ridiculed.Conversations on future > past focus.
Now think about a place/context you have been most creative. Most innovative. What is the thing that stands out as driving your creativity?
Look around your context, work, home, community, does it drive infinite possibilities? How? What is the design that does so or not?
Pioneer inventors in Seattle invented many things, from EMTs to ultrasound. What is it about this eco-system that drives innovation forward?
I have think about the context I'm in and how that impacts the way one thinks about things. Seattle is my context. Its infinitely different.
Next time you hear a leader that sounds amazing, try to be very, very mindful of the words. Practice. It is a great defense against opera!
It's okay if its the Beatles, Limp Biscuit or Taylor Swift (ok, not Taylor her words r amazing). But for leaders, words and melody matter!
Siren songs of leaders are worth thinking about. I love the melody myself. I have been told how wrong I am with words of my favorite songs
Ask yourself, a leader you were most attracted to, & most likely to follow. Were they opera singers or authentic? Have you thought about it?
When many Italians talk about Mussolini, they say, you read the words of his speeches & its jibberish. How could people buy this? Its opera.