“TEACHER seeks pupil. Must have an earnest desire to save the world. Apply in person.” Thus begins Ishmael, a compelling exploration of our shared assumptions…

Anyone working to build a learning organization will, sooner or later, run up against the challenge of “proving” the value of what he or…

Microtown, a small community deep within the Land of Middle Health, isn’t much different from other towns. Its citizens are young and old, rich…

Much has been written over the years about leadership — the skills required, the dynamics involved, the characteristics displayed by outstanding leaders, and so…

The latest casualty of the changes sweeping through corporate America is the lifetime employment contract — the implicit agreement that provided employees with economic…

Last month we outlined a process for turning a causal loop diagram into an accumulator and flow diagram, using the example of staffing decisions.

During the mid-1980s, a large high-technology company launched a project to begin thinking more systemically about strategy. “COPEX” (a fictional name) designed, manufactured, sold,…

The sole purpose of a corporation is to maximize return on investment to shareholders.” That is the raison d’etre for most organizations — and…

I just got a thick envelope in the mail, and when I opened it, money fell out. Four bills, to be exact, along with…

A simple balancing loop can be thought of as a basic control loop. In this type of feedback loop, any discrepancies between desired…