Competitive Business, Caring Business: An Integral Business Perspective for the 21st Century

Rating:
Summary: A crucial next move
Review: Why are so many intelligent, well-schooled, experienced people working as hard as they can only to hear that it's not enough; that they need to attend now to the next 'most important thing'? Can they lead the innovation revolution with a balanced scorecard as they manage ' in one minute ' to increase their emotional intelligence or will causal-loop diagrams help them to empower continuous-quality teams to listen appreciatively in the pursuit of excellent shareholder value? I'm sure you'll recognize some of these 'most important things' and I believe that each of these approaches ' individually and in combinations ' has genuine merit. One or more of them may, in fact, be part of your business's best next strategic move. But the sheer volume of seemingly disparate advice can become overwhelming and you have to do something. You don't have the resources or the time to investigate each and every one of these, but how do you pick and sort through them all faced with decreasing quarterly margins and increasing pressure to perform...is there a platform high enough to see how some ' maybe all ' of these might fit together?

Is there a grand unifying theory of sorts for business?

In the spring of 2000, Ken Wilber gathered an incredible group of people together as the Business branch of his newly founded Integral Institute to find out. Ken's stated intent was to put a group of thoughtful people that he respected together in a room, give them just enough guidance to get underway and then just to see what they would do. Conversations ran the gamut from inspiring to ridiculous with all the brilliance and humility and grandstanding and depth that a roomful of remarkable and very human people can muster. It was at this gathering that I first met Daryl Paulson. Daryl had with him a copy of Ken's magnum opus, 'Sex, Ecology and Spirituality,' and the already massive tome was choked nearly double with yellow Post-it notes that he had covered with comments, questions and references. For the days and nights of meetings that followed, he contributed thoughtfully, respectfully and knowledgeably to the conversations about what an integral approach to business might mean.

You'll get to meet Daryl in the pages of this book and there you'll meet the mind and heart that Ken respected enough to invite into the Institute. But more importantly, you'll encounter some of the powerfully elegant and pragmatic aspects of integral theory and methodology. There's a saying that, like a frog at the bottom of a well, we often think too small ' we think the sky is only as big as the top of the well, but if we surfaced, we would have an entirely different view. This book is a groundbreaking effort to help business leaders and managers to find their way to that larger view, and like all early maps of newly explored territory, what follows will need more people to refine and recalibrate and find new paths to explore. But I think this first map will prove to be more right than wrong.

What you read in this book is based on Daryl's deep knowledge and experience with real-world, profit-and-loss business situations, informed by his rare understanding of the encompassing framework offered by Ken Wilber's integral 'Theory of Everything.' Ken's work has earned the admiration of people ranging from Warren Bennis to Al Gore to Tony Robbins and is the most comprehensive, powerful and inclusive framework currently available for understanding human experience. This evidenced-based body of work provides the foundation for identifying and integrating the most effective combination of business actions to apply in any given situation.

The integral approach that Daryl offers in "Competitive Business, Caring Business" provides a substantive first look at how to go about bringing this powerful view into practical day-to-day decisionmaking and resource allocation. It begins with an orienteer's view of the terrain: a brief but useful introduction to the four dimensions of an individual's reality relative to the organizations of which they are members. Business decision-makers and leaders would be well enough served simply to know how to see these dimensions, for their own organizations and the various environments in which they operate. But there's a great deal more value available if they can also begin to see how these might manifest in the minds and cultures of the people that work in and with the organization. And then to be able to navigate these differences'

Moving from the individual's experiences and perceptions in small team situations, Competitive Business, Caring Business takes us on an integral expedition through the company, the industry and the environments in which industries, companies, teams and individuals operate. On the way, we'll pick up insights from economics, politics, theology, psychology, medicine and physics. We reach the most exciting new territory with the discussion of an 'integral business paradigm.' With the paths laid out, the last chapter presents the challenge to those explorers with the capacity, the willingness and the desire to reach within themselves to find new ways to engage in business profitably, but that also honor the people that work in and with their businesses. And all this performed with deep reverence for the world environment that supports us ' our fragile island home ' in our new post-9/11 context.

As more explorers pick up this first map to join in the fine-tuning of its nuances and its outer regions, more business leaders will begin to see more clearly how and when to consider all the excellent work in management and business theory that has gone on before, and where to push into new thinking, new conversations, new systems and new behaviors. If enough of us can muster the courage that Daryl has exemplified in this pioneering work, we can begin to intentionally influence and co-create the next stage of our businesses' evolution with a far more compelling and fruitful vision, future and legacy.

It's a crucial next move.

Rating:
Summary: A crucial next move
Review: Why are so many intelligent, well-schooled, experienced people working as hard as they can only to hear that it�s not enough; that they need to attend now to the next �most important thing�? Can they lead the innovation revolution with a balanced scorecard as they manage � in one minute � to increase their emotional intelligence or will causal-loop diagrams help them to empower continuous-quality teams to listen appreciatively in the pursuit of excellent shareholder value? I�m sure you�ll recognize some of these �most important things� and I believe that each of these approaches � individually and in combinations � has genuine merit. One or more of them may, in fact, be part of your business�s best next strategic move. But the sheer volume of seemingly disparate advice can become overwhelming and you have to do something. You don�t have the resources or the time to investigate each and every one of these, but how do you pick and sort through them all faced with decreasing quarterly margins and increasing pressure to perform...is there a platform high enough to see how some � maybe all � of these might fit together?

Is there a grand unifying theory of sorts for business?

In the spring of 2000, Ken Wilber gathered an incredible group of people together as the Business branch of his newly founded Integral Institute to find out. Ken�s stated intent was to put a group of thoughtful people that he respected together in a room, give them just enough guidance to get underway and then just to see what they would do. Conversations ran the gamut from inspiring to ridiculous with all the brilliance and humility and grandstanding and depth that a roomful of remarkable and very human people can muster. It was at this gathering that I first met Daryl Paulson. Daryl had with him a copy of Ken�s magnum opus, �Sex, Ecology and Spirituality,� and the already massive tome was choked nearly double with yellow Post-it notes that he had covered with comments, questions and references. For the days and nights of meetings that followed, he contributed thoughtfully, respectfully and knowledgeably to the conversations about what an integral approach to business might mean.

You�ll get to meet Daryl in the pages of this book and there you�ll meet the mind and heart that Ken respected enough to invite into the Institute. But more importantly, you�ll encounter some of the powerfully elegant and pragmatic aspects of integral theory and methodology. There�s a saying that, like a frog at the bottom of a well, we often think too small � we think the sky is only as big as the top of the well, but if we surfaced, we would have an entirely different view. This book is a groundbreaking effort to help business leaders and managers to find their way to that larger view, and like all early maps of newly explored territory, what follows will need more people to refine and recalibrate and find new paths to explore. But I think this first map will prove to be more right than wrong.

What you read in this book is based on Daryl�s deep knowledge and experience with real-world, profit-and-loss business situations, informed by his rare understanding of the encompassing framework offered by Ken Wilber�s integral �Theory of Everything.� Ken�s work has earned the admiration of people ranging from Warren Bennis to Al Gore to Tony Robbins and is the most comprehensive, powerful and inclusive framework currently available for understanding human experience. This evidenced-based body of work provides the foundation for identifying and integrating the most effective combination of business actions to apply in any given situation.

The integral approach that Daryl offers in "Competitive Business, Caring Business" provides a substantive first look at how to go about bringing this powerful view into practical day-to-day decisionmaking and resource allocation. It begins with an orienteer�s view of the terrain: a brief but useful introduction to the four dimensions of an individual�s reality relative to the organizations of which they are members. Business decision-makers and leaders would be well enough served simply to know how to see these dimensions, for their own organizations and the various environments in which they operate. But there�s a great deal more value available if they can also begin to see how these might manifest in the minds and cultures of the people that work in and with the organization. And then to be able to navigate these differences�

Moving from the individual�s experiences and perceptions in small team situations, Competitive Business, Caring Business takes us on an integral expedition through the company, the industry and the environments in which industries, companies, teams and individuals operate. On the way, we�ll pick up insights from economics, politics, theology, psychology, medicine and physics. We reach the most exciting new territory with the discussion of an �integral business paradigm.� With the paths laid out, the last chapter presents the challenge to those explorers with the capacity, the willingness and the desire to reach within themselves to find new ways to engage in business profitably, but that also honor the people that work in and with their businesses. And all this performed with deep reverence for the world environment that supports us � our fragile island home � in our new post-9/11 context.

As more explorers pick up this first map to join in the fine-tuning of its nuances and its outer regions, more business leaders will begin to see more clearly how and when to consider all the excellent work in management and business theory that has gone on before, and where to push into new thinking, new conversations, new systems and new behaviors. If enough of us can muster the courage that Daryl has exemplified in this pioneering work, we can begin to intentionally influence and co-create the next stage of our businesses� evolution with a far more compelling and fruitful vision, future and legacy.

It�s a crucial next move.