Recently there has been a shift in understanding of forest fires. We are beginning to see that they are an essential part of the lifecycle of a forest. They clean out all the rubbish and they allow the new to emerge.
Today all I read in the policy area is how we might be able to avoid a recession. I wonder, are not recessions also part of our natural cycle? Do they not clear out all the rubbishy ideas about what is possible and then allow the new to emerge?
Is it not healthier, though it hurts, to get rid of a lot of the silly ideas? Silly ideas such as life is all about consumption, that my house is an investment and that credit is free and get back to a more real life where life is about my relationships with others, my house is my home and where I have to be responsible about the obligations I assume?
One of the silliest ideas of all is that economics is everything.
Here is how Henry Mintzberg sees it:
Our narrow view of ourselves as "economic man" has driven a wedge of distrust between our individual wants and our social needs. A distorted view of shareholder value has driven a wedge of disengagement between those who create economic performance and those who harvest it. Our obsession with heroic leadership has created a wedge of disconnection between leaders and everyone else. The glorification of the "lean and mean" organization has driven a wedge of discontinuity between short-term and long-term goals. And the convenient, widely held notion that "a rising tide lifts all boats" has ratified a wedge of disparity between the prime beneficiaries of stock-price increases and the large numbers of people disadvantaged by the corresponding actions.
The authors challenge and deconstruct each of these flawed premises and offer an alternative. Real prosperity, they say, combines economic development with social generosity — and that requires a new philosophy of social and managerial engagement. (via Hugh)
Who got this from Mark - who nailed this today here.
