The ‘view from the balcony’ was recently offered as a perspective that could assist with the resolution of conflicted positions during negotiations. Further reflections on this theme are offered here. Types of Conflict Illustrating the diversity of matters we may find ourselves conflicted about, the partial typology below offers just five conflict types for each… Continue reading Combating Conflict: Negotiating Interests
Tag: risk management
Elevating perspectives
The view from a high (or higher) vantage point has long been linked with strategic thinking and action. While often used in a military context, there is also a long tradition of symbolically linking elevated positions with elevated thinking about much broader concerns. A selection of symbolic references to various ‘elevated perspectives’ is offered in… Continue reading Elevating perspectives
Fairness & Justice at Work & Beyond
My recent post on Good Change: Bad Change included a chart on organisational justice (reproduced below for convenience) which suggested only some of the aspects of justice that we need to consider as nonprofit leaders. This post picks up on that theme and uses another collection of charts to broaden our consideration of the many… Continue reading Fairness & Justice at Work & Beyond
Agents, Proxies, & Servants – Agency Part 2
Agency Theory was highlighted in Part 1 of this two-part series, along with personal and organisational agency, but this offers only an economic perspective on how we use agency in governance and management. Across the fields of economics, psychology, sociology, law, and political science, five distinct agency theories can be identified – each with relevance… Continue reading Agents, Proxies, & Servants – Agency Part 2
Promoting Personal & Organisational Agency – Agency Part 1
In its simplest form, ‘agency‘ can be defined as the ability to take action. We refer to a person’s agency in terms of their capacity to influence the course of events that shape their lives. By extension, we describe organisational agency in terms of the collective capacity of its people and resources to effect changes… Continue reading Promoting Personal & Organisational Agency – Agency Part 1
Tools and Their Users: plus parable
Various books and websites use a ‘toolkit’ metaphor to describe a collection of resources they offer to leaders and managers. This metaphor invites readers to think about the addition of new or more specialised tools helping expand one’s skills and abilities, and so being more productive and/or promotable. For some, the toolkit or toolbox metaphor… Continue reading Tools and Their Users: plus parable
Are We Managing Human Resources or Human Beings?
Some of the fatalistic and dystopian predictions of recent years about robotic futures and the elimination of the need for human workers were overblown. On the other hand, there remains a strong imperative in some quarters to push forward with workforce substitution using a range of technologies. It would be hyperbolic to call this a… Continue reading Are We Managing Human Resources or Human Beings?
Fusing experience and expectation in decision-making
Time and timing considerations are central to most decisions we make as nonprofit leaders. Planning involves using past and present data to adopt targets for future work. It also involves scheduling tasks and activities, monitoring and reporting cycles, deadlines, and time-sequencing of processes (including coordination of serial and parallel processes e.g., using Gantt Charts). Time… Continue reading Fusing experience and expectation in decision-making
Masks, blindfolds, hats, and armour
We wear different hats according to the roles we are asked, or choose, to perform. Some of these roles also involve masks, which conceal our true feelings and views on the activities and tasks we undertake. Some work roles require us to wear personal protective equipment (PPE) and clothing, while for many, just wearing ‘corporate’… Continue reading Masks, blindfolds, hats, and armour
“The die is cast”: On Randomness, Intentionality and Certainty
Julius Ceasar was reported to have said “The die is cast‘ when he sent his troops across the Rubicon in 49 BC. This quote is generally thought to refer to his having made a decision from which there was no going back. While we can’t know what was in Ceasar’s mind, nor whether he actually… Continue reading “The die is cast”: On Randomness, Intentionality and Certainty