This book brings together cases from around the world of a breakthrough new approach to strategic planning, empowerment, consensus building, and whole systems improvement. Marvin Weisbord and 35 international coauthors show how all types of business, government, and nonprofit organizations are successfully using this approach to create shared vision, innovation, commitment, and collaborative action that exceed what people thought possible.
In this approach-called "future searches" or "search conferences"-people with diverse interests who have a stake in an organization or issue come together for two or three days to explore their mutual past, present, and future in a global context. Using a self-managing format, they seek common ground among their varied interests, invent ideal futures rather than work old problems, and generate creative strategies, action plans, and commitment.
2013
Augmented with six case studies of some of the top US CEOs. New chapters cover topics such as the role of mentoring in spurring innovation.
Mentoring is more important than ever. Younger workers expect it or they'll walk. Organizations need to provide it to stay competitive. This latest edition of the classic Managers as Mentors is a rapid-fire read that guides leaders in helping associates grow and adapt in today's tumultuous organizations. Thoroughly revised and updated, this edition places increased emphasis on the mentor as a learning catalyst for the protégé rather than as someone who simply hands down knowledge-crucial for younger workers who prize growth opportunities but tend to distrust hierarchy.
As with previous editions, a fictional case study of a mentor-protégé relationship runs through the book. But now this is augmented with six case studies of some of the top US CEOs. New chapters cover topics such as the role of mentoring in spurring innovation and mentoring a diverse and dispersed workforce accustomed to interacting and getting information digitally. Also new to this edition is the Mentor's Toolkit, six resources to help in developing the mentor-protégé relationship.
This hands-on guide takes the mystery out of effective mentoring, teaching leaders to be the kind of confident coaches integral to learning organizations.
1996
Applying the concept of historical waves originally propounded by Alvin Toffler in The Third Wave, Herman Maynard and Susan Mehrtens look toward the next century and foresee a "fourth wave," an era of integration and responsibility far beyond Toffler's revolutionary description of third-wave postindustrial society. Whether we attain this stage of global well-being, however, will depend on how well our business institutions adapt and change.
The Fourth Wave examines the ways business has changed in the second and third waves and must continue to change in the fourth. The changes concern the basics-how an institution is organized, how it defines wealth, how it relates to surrounding communities, how it responds to environmental needs, and how it takes part in the political process.
Maynard and Mehrtens foresee a radically different future in which business principles, concern for the environment, personal integrity, and spiritual values are integrated. The authors also demonstrate the need for a new kind of leadership-managers and CEOs who embrace an attitude of global stewardship; who define their assets as ideas, information, creativity, and vision; and who strive for seamless boundaries between work and private lives for all employees.