Tag: culture

Change Antibodies

In his book, Leading Change: The Argument for Values-Based Leadership, James O’Toole, an expert in management and leadership, observes that great thinkers throughout the world agree that “groups resist change with all the vigor of antibodies attacking an intruding virus.” O’Toole examines a number of cases in which a potentially beneficial institutional change was resisted and finds that the resistance occurs when a group perceives that a change in question will challenge its “power, prestige, and satisfaction with who they are, what they believe, and what they cherish.” He asserts: “The major factor in our resistance to change is the desire not to have the will of others forced on us.”

If ideas are to take root and spread, therefore, they need champions — obsessive people who have the skill, motivation, energy, and bullheadedness to do whatever is necessary to move them forward: to persuade, inspire, seduce, cajole, enlighten, touch hearts, alleviate fears, shift perceptions, articulate meanings, and artfully maneuver them through systems.

I have a hunch that I will be doing a lot of the battling Jon is talking about in 2005.

Choice

our family decided a couple years ago to opt out of the holiday shopping craze, and i could not be happier about it. today i listened to this excellent presentation by barry schwartz on the psychological costs of choice. his main takeaway: that the relationship between happiness and choice is not monotonous, but peaks at some point. in other words, choice is good, up to a point, where too much choice becomes bad. here are some facilitation graphics.
i have found having to make choices that do not matter to me much (at the supermarket, at the coffee place, for investments) to be stressful, and stoicism to help. how do you deal with the choice onslaught?

journey to the north pole

On his latest expedition in February 2004, Ben set out from Cape Arktichevsky in Northern Siberia in an attempt to be the first person in the world to make a complete crossing of the frozen Arctic Ocean in a 2000 km journey ending in Canada, solo and unsupported. The expedition was a traumatic one: out of the 4 solo attempts, Ben was the only one to reach the North Pole. A Finnish woman died within 24 hours of being on the Arctic Ocean, a French Marine fell through thin ice and was rescued with severe frostbite and an American was airlifted out with frostbite and a broken ankle. Ben holds the record for the longest solo arctic trek by a Brit, and became the youngest person ever to reach the North Pole on May 11th 2004. After experiencing first hand conditions described by NASA and Environment Canada as ‘the worst on record’, Ben has raised international awareness regarding the extent to which climate change is affecting the Arctic. He noticed conditions that were up to 15 degrees warmer than in 2000, and had to negotiate vast, unprecedented areas of thinning ice and open water.

well worth a listen.

Societal change capacity

david brin is one of my heroes. “the postmodernist belief system is a wrong as that of those that the end of the world is imminent, based on someones acid trip 2000 years ago.” “don’t you always get the criticism you need? god bless america.” he recommends my acquaintances ramez naam’s new book, “better humans”. talks about caloric restrictions. “it wont be as easy for humans.” humans are already methusalems. 3 times as many heart beats as other mammals (rate of heartbeats, mice vs elephants). why aren’t monks reaching 250 years of age? haven’t they been doing caloric restriction for 6000 years? why are we able to be looking towards a golden age in the future now? god asks us a favor “name all the beasts”. taxonomy anyone?
reds vs blue: rural america declared war on urban america. never have so many republican leaders spoken out against the republican runner. “romantics (farmers) do not have to be grateful” every square block of manhattan should adopt a small town in ohio. “no one wants their beliefs to be the result of propaganda.” brin asserts that all hollywood flicks have “sticking it to the man” propaganda.
everyone, reps and dems, are worried about undue accumulation of authority. insatiability: people cannot be made happy by getting what they want. why are all romantic stories (lotr) showing kings, and not democracy in action? democracy is unprecedented.
danger: from “viruses” to viruses once pimple faced teens have access to biotech. do you want to be served by angry teens with access to that stuff at mc donalds? thanks for robots.
shouldn’t we, as the new kid on the block, think twice about sending out messages into space? all SETI people only believe that aliens are benign. human history and nature is filled with predators. a satiated society considers dolphins fellow citizens and goes on to rescue them from the beaches.
exolarium: “put your own alien into the galactic terrarium”

Elektronik Supersonik

The tiny Eastern European republic of Molvania was disqualified from the Eurovision Song Contest this year. Zladko Zlad Vladcik was to perform his very popular techno-ballad, Elektronik – Supersonik – described as a melodic fusion combining hot disco rhythms with cold war rhetoric.

Hard to believe with lyrics like this:

Hey baby, wake up from your asleep.
We have arrived unto the future
And the whole world is become…
Elektronik supersonik
Supersonik elektronik

TV? Stereo?

What was interesting about our discussion – which was echoed by some friends packing their kids off to school this weekend – was their data showing college students now arriving at school with 2 things, dominantly. First, a cell phone. Second, a laptop. In that order. Stereo? Nope. TV? No. Did you bring a phone to school? I’m embarrassed to identify the model I used. Or stereo. Everyone had them. No more.
What do college kids do with their laptops? Shoot at each other. Play movies. Listen to music. Write papers. Chat. TV? Stereo? Why bother. They’re focused – just like the rest of us – on interactive communications and entertainment. Things have changed. Ask a college kid which they’d be less likely to give up: their mobile or their laptop. Interesting.

roger that, except why bother with a cell phone?