Customer Reviews

Conscious Business: How to Build Value Through Values

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Conscious Business is the first book I've read on an important subject I'd like to tackle as an author: How to move those in an organization from focusing on their selfish interests to concentrating on what creates the most good for the most people . . . with the least potential harm to any individual. I thought that Dr. Kofman did a good job in defining one path to creating mutual benefit in Conscious Business. If people in your organization seem to be emphasizing their own careers rather than the tasks that need doing, this book is a must-read for you!

Let me agree with Dr. Kofman about his warning for readers: It's much easier to understand his principles than apply them. But with practice, you can do great things.

Here are the goals he sets:

"In the impersonal It dimension, the goal is to accomplish the organization's mission, enhancing its ability to continue doing so in the future, and delivering outstanding long-term returns to shareholders. In the interpersonal We dimension, the goal is to establish cooperative, trusting, and mutually respectful relationships, a community of shared purpose and values in which people feel they belong. In the personal I dimension, the goal is to live in a state of flow, feeling a transcendent happiness that comes from living in full integrity, with one's principles and ideals."

As you can see from this quote, Dr. Kofman draws heavily from his interest in Buddhist tradition and other streams of spiritual beliefs that are outside of the Judeo-Christian tradition. The text is enlivened by quotes from many sides of the spiritual spectrum and psychologists. As a result, the material will speak directly and deeply in places to virtually any reader, regardless of background and beliefs.

The risk he points to is a real one: If we don't make our intentions explicit and specific, people will take the knee-jerk route of looking after themselves. That self-focus is the basis of much bureaucratic behavior, procrastination, avoidance, poor customer service, misconceptions, disbelief about what needs to be done, poor communications and over-reliance on tradition.

A key exhibit in the book can be found on page 17 where Dr. Kofman draws a contrast between relying on unconscious versus conscious attitudes in business. Here are the unconscious attitudes and their conscious counterparts:

Unconscious Attitudes.....................Conscious Attitudes

Unconditional blame.........................Unconditional responsibility
Essential selfishness........................Essential integrity
Ontological arrogance......................Ontological humility
Unconscious behaviors.....................Conscious behaviors
Manipulative communication..............Authentic communication
Narcissistic negotiation....................Constructive negotiation
Negligent coordination.....................Impeccable coordination
Unconscious reactions.....................Conscious reactions
Emotional incompetence...................Emotional mastery

The book goes on to devote a chapter to each of the seven conscious attitudes (excluding conscious behaviors and reactions from the list above). Since those attitude titles are not exactly self-explanatory, let me see if I can explain each a little more.

Unconditional responsibility is the Victor Frankl concept of determining your response to a situation, even if it is a situation you cannot change. You take charge of choosing your response.

Essential integrity is acting in accordance with your values, even if the results are less than perfect.

Ontological humility is being open to seeing what's going on from the perspectives of others and valuing those perspectives.

Authentic communication means sharing your emotions, opinions and knowledge openly with those who appear to be headed in the wrong direction . . . and encouraging them to do the same. From that baseline, you can then proceed to develop options that may better fit what's needed.

Constructive negotiation is focused on finding a great solution for everyone, rather than simply winning your point.

Impeccable coordination involves making informed commitments, staying on top of what's needed to meet those commitments and letting others know when things go wrong to devise solutions that may improve matters.

Emotional mastery means being able to function objectively, even if something outrages or frightens you.

As you can see from these terms and concepts, Conscious Business is a book of applied psychology by someone who is well versed in the field. The strength of that approach is that Dr. Kofman can reference psychological works that you may know well to give you a touchstone. The drawback is that the book can seem to be too academic if you aren't familiar with the terms and references.

Two things humanize the book from those weaknesses:

(1) Each chapter opens with an extended example of a business problem involving unconscious behavior and reactions. The key concepts are then explained and applied to turning the extended example into a way of employing conscious behavior and reactions.

(2) Dr. Kofman has had many interesting experiences that he deftly weaves into his story. I was especially impressed by his learning from having lived in a totalitarian regime in Argentina as a youth and his mountain climbing experience in South America.

All that said, the opening of this book was awfully abstract and academic. It wasn't until page 42 that I began to resonate with the material. So be patient. The book is quite accessible and interesting from that point on.

Fred Kofman has delivered a book that embodies the much needed next phase of corporate responsibility. When people know how to deliberately make choices and take ownership for all their decisions and actions, they are in a position of power. As a Master Certified Coach, I have found the tools Fred offers are the ones that develop people to the highest levels of fulfillment and performance. He embraces the heart, soul and mind. If you want to know how to avoid another Enron ever happening, then this is a must-read book.

Don't disregard this as just another leadership book. While you may have seen some of the conversational techniques before, the integration and tie-in to the underlying values of the leader is unique and makes a huge qualitative difference in leadership effectiveness. This is what Jim Collins' "Level 5 Leader" (Good to Great) does naturally. Conscious Business offers the opportunity to develop yourself into this kind of leader.

Fred Kofman is an exceptional teacher, not because he knows everything under the sun, not because he has answers to all the questions, but because of his humility and his ability to establish deep connection with the audience. His book is no different from the way he teaches. He does not claim to have a big store of ideas that he throws at the reader. He engages the reader into a conversation by putting forth few simple ideas but the ideas that are time tested, the ideas thast are deeply grounded in our spiritual traditions. Dozens of books are published every year on leadership and management. Most of them are full of new jargon and ideas that at best represent the flavor of the month. "Conscious Business" is in a different class. It makes you think and reflect. It challenges your core values and beliefs. I would not only recommend managers and leaders of businesses to read this book but to live the values that are part of the book.

In this extraordinary book Fred solves the false dilemma of "selling out" to pursue financial success or "dropping out" to have a meaningful life. Conscious Business provides the principles, the practices and the tools to become a true leader. At work and in life.

This is a masterpiece that will hopefully help individuals, teams and organizations live more aware, in the same way it is helping me. Striving for my goals, while at the same time paying attention to my connection with others and feeling the flow of doing my best regardless of the outcome.

Consciousness, the art and practice of paying attention, is the only thing that will make the world a friendlier and more peaceful place.

Fred Kofman does an outstanding of job of teaching the essentials of human interaction; communication, negotiation and implementation. His simple but profound insights are delivered in a converstational style and by the end of the program I felt like I had found a friend who inspired me to become a 'conscious leader'!

Consious Business is a wonderful way to understand that the only way of making our businesses and lives be what we want them to be is by doing the effort of becoming aware, of becoming present and becoming completely responsible players.

As a manager at Microsoft, I found Fred's book to be refreshing and helpful. It is well-grounded cognitively, emotionally, and spiritually and his practices and techniques really work! I'm delighted to have a such an impressive "handbook" to continue to polish my people-development skills.

Business is an essential part of our lives. Doing business consciously, Fred Kofman, a co-founder of the consulting firm Axialent, is an essential part of living consciously. The author presents a business model where managers are more conscious of the inner and outer lives of employees.

Anyone who works intuitively understands there are two types of managers. As a professor of accounting, Kofman begin his classes by having students listen to one of Beethoven's pieces over and over. Gradually the students would realize that the music was not in the CD; but in the listening. In music as in business, Information's only value is in how it is interpreted.

Most recognize the need for smart employees with the latest in technical competency. Kofman argues it is more important, and less recognized, that organizations recruit and retain employees with high-level consciousness.

He draws a contrast between unconscious attitudes and their conscious counterparts. They are:

Unconscious Attitudes.....................Conscious Attitudes
Unconditional Blame.......................Unconditional Responsibility
Essential Selfishness........................Essential Integrity
Ontological Arrogance.....................Ontological Humility
Unconscious Behaviors....................Conscious Behaviors
Manipulative Communication..........Authentic Communication
Narcissistic Negotiation....................Constructive Negotiation
Negligent Coordination.....................Impeccable Coordination
Unconscious Reactions.....................Conscious Reactions
Emotional Incompetence...................Emotional Mastery.

These qualities are simple to understand; yet, they are difficult to implement. They represent common sense; yet, they are not found widely in common practice. They seem natural, yet they challenge deep-seated assumptions individuals hold about themselves, others and their world.

Kofman opens the reader's conscious to a unique resource for maximizing profit and potential in the workplace and beyond. Written concisely and coherently he communicates an uncommon wisdom about the truth of our emotions and healthy interpersonal practices in business and life.

Kofman has gone deep sea fishing and has located some of life's hidden treasures that reside beneath the surface. For anyone who has read "Good to Great" and has wondered, "Well how do you can you become a Level 5 leader?", Kofman presents some very practical tools that can make this a reality. He has deciphered some sophisticated theory and has made it quite accessible. What Tim Gallwey did in the 70's with the Inner Game, Kofman is doing that and more in 2006: connecting real business practices with underlying principles of integity,true responsibility and deep self awareness. This is a wonderful read and a great book!