There has been something of a time gap since my last posting. Nevertheless I am returning to the thoughts of Socrates (469 B.C – 399 B.C.) whose insights are as relevant today as they were in ancient Greece.
In relation to knowledge Socrates believed in two principle types of knowledge: ‘important’ and ‘trivial’ and concluded that most of [...]
Archive for the ‘Business’ Category
What Knowledge and Skills are Worthwhile Learning
Posted in Business, Education, leaders, learning, philosophy on November 8, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
The Measure of National Happiness
Posted in Business, Government, Sustainability, environment, philosophy, psychology on September 22, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
For the Nobel-Prize economist Joseph Stiglitz happiness is just as important as the measure of the economic success, or failure, of a society. For Stiglitz, along with a growing number of serious economists the question is whether a single-minded objective to economic growth has led to governments neglecting other important goals. Goals such as social [...]
Socrates, Money and Happiness.
Posted in Business, philosophy on September 2, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Most people think that if they had posses an abundance of wealth they would be happy and successful, however such a belief is certainly not necessarily true. According to the Greek philosopher Socrates the quest for profit and wealth is fine as long as such a quest is accompanied by knowledge. The philosopher argued that [...]
The Exercise of Leadership and the Successful Enterprise
Posted in Business, Leadership, Sustainability, leaders, learning, management on July 30, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
The successful enterprise requires the exercise of leadership. Why? Because such an enterprise needs to be able to adapt, and adaption depends on the exercise of leadership. Simple? Yes and no.
Yes: because the exercise of leadership is in no way mysterious, or something understood and practised by great, or ‘extraordinary’ leaders. Instead, it can be practised [...]
The Myth and Danger of the Powerful Leader
Posted in Business, Government, leaders, management on July 20, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
There are no leaders, or managers, without personal frailty or imperfections.
One of the crucial issues confronting organizations, and indeed societies, is the nature of the association between management and employees, between leaders and lead. At the centre of this linkage is the issue of power and control. Unhappily, as leaders gain power and influence all too [...]
Why the Exercise of Leadership?
Posted in Business, Leadership, Shared Learning, Sustainability, learning, management, the unpredictable on June 16, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
The purpose of Leadership and Learning Pathways is simply to promote an understanding of leadership that will help you as an owner, or manager, of a small to medium business, or organization, motivateemployees to make a commitment, as well as to create an environment to retain key people and to reduce absenteeism and turnover.
The exercise [...]
The Secret of Business Success
Posted in Business, Leadership, Shared Learning, Sustainability, learning, management on May 27, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
The two most important factors in business, social and organizational success are:
(1) The exercise of leadership. (2) The willingness to learn.
If those, and especially those who lead the enterprise, exercise leadership in their dealings with people within the enterprise – that is, investing time in people, making deliberate efforts to improve things – while at [...]
Sir Fred and Corporate Responsibility.
Posted in Business, management on May 19, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
In the Royal Bank of Scotland’s (RBS) Corporate Responsibility Report (2007) you can read the following: “…our goal as a group (RBS) is to run our business in a responsible manner.” Who wrote these words? No other than the infamous Sir Fred Goodwin who scampered away with a pocket full of £1,000,000 notes as a reward [...]
The Cost of a Lack of Corporate Social Responsibility
Posted in Business, Leadership, environment, management on May 15, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
In 2006 Trafigura were responsible for the dumping of 400 tonnes of toxic waste from the cargo vessel Probo Koala in the port of Abidjan, the capital of the Ivory Coast. The waste was loaded on to trucks and dumped near the city. Over the following weeks thousands of local people found themselves choking and [...]
Big Business and Lack of Corporate Social Responsibility
Posted in Business, environment, philosophy on May 11, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
In 1964 Chevron (then Texaco) began drilling for oil in the remote northern region of the Ecuadorian Amazon. Prior to that this pristine rain-forest provided both the physical, spiritual and cultural requirements of the many indigenous inhabitants of the area.
Over the following 25 years or so Texaco made deliberate, cost-cutting operational decisions that resulted in [...]
