Paradigm Found: Leading and Managing for Positive Change [Paperback]

Anne Firth Murray (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 18, 2006

Millions of people are frustrated by the lack of innovation and accountability undertaken by the government and other organizations, but they don’t know where or how to begin making changes. Paradigm Found is a primer for creating or reshaping institutions and businesses to be run on principles often voiced but rarely followed: learning, equality, tolerance, consensus, empowerment, generosity, and hearing and acknowledging all voices. Providing examples from her own rich experience, Murray shows readers what one individual can do to implement change from within, and how to do it. She encourages others to take risks, start organizations, and judge when it is time, and how, to move on. Full of practical suggestions for giving life to values and engaging stories of what works and what doesn't, Paradigm Found demonstrates that it is possible to walk the talk, even when it isn’t easy.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Part do-it-yourself guide and part memoir, this inspirational primer is aimed at budding social activists and those seeking to build a thriving nonprofit organization. Back in the mid-1980s, when Murray founded the Global Fund for Women and became its executive director, he linked women's rights with population issues, economic development and environmental preservation, well before the international philanthropic community recognized these connections. Discouraged by the experts' pessimism about the state of the world and the old-style hierarchical, donor-oriented philanthropic model, she saw the need for a new paradigm of social relations and organizational structure to overcome world violence and poverty. Drawing on second-wave feminist principles, Murray created a grantee-centered funding organization that put money "directly into the hands of women at the grass roots level so that they could do what they wanted to do rather than what the donors... wanted." Contrary to conventional wisdom, she found that small grass-roots organizations value the feeling of support more than the money they are awarded. In 21st-century, bottom-line–driven America, her orientation toward connection over money is almost shockingly quaint, until her implementation reveals its effectiveness. Her personal story and spiritual yet practical approach to public service will inspire idealists to take action; the nuts-and-bolts how-to information provides the tools to begin. (June)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

“I am grateful that Anne Firth Murray and thousands of women around the world dreamed, struggled, and succeeded in planting the seeds and reaping the harvest of the new paradigm she describes here so compellingly. Her experience and clarity provide an essential text for us all. Either we learn to lead organizations based on human generosity, kindness, and wisdom, or we will descend further into the chaos created when we disown these qualities.” — Margaret J. Wheatley, author of Leadership and the New Science and Finding Our Way: Leadership for an Uncertain Time “There are many of us around the world who have been personally influenced by the principles and the model that Anne describes. . . . Readers of this book [will] find inspiration in its practical suggestions and clear guidelines for thinking about their own philanthropic work in new ways.” — from the foreword by Esther B. Hewlett “Paradigm Found is a must-read for anyone interested in social change and the remarkable history of The Global Fund for Women. Murray's own highly personal and fascinating story is inspirational, instructive, and insightful — the story of an extraordinary woman and an extraordinary life.” — Thomas C. Layton, president, Wallace Alexander Gerbode Foundation --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 236 pages
• Publisher: New World Library (April 18, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1577315332
• ISBN-13: 978-1577315339
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 6.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #815,789 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Anne Firth Murray is my heroine, June 26, 2006

By 

S. Conley (Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco Mexico) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Paradigm Found: Leading and Managing for Positive Change (Paperback)

"Anne Firth Murray is my heroine. She had the courage to make my fantasy reality. She founded an organization to empower and fund individual women and groups of women all over the world, to help pull them out of poverty and realize their dreams. And now, nearly 20 years later, Anne is semi retired and teaching at Stanford University



Paradigm Found, Learning and Managing for Positive Change, New World Library was published several months ago and is an account of her experience starting The Global Fund for Women in 1987. Anne's vision for The Global Fund was to transform the world through empowering women. Her original goal was to raise and give away 10 million dollars by 2000 and by 1996 she had raised enough money to give away more than 1000 grants totaling more than 6 million USD in more than 100 countries.



Anne is a New Zealander by birth but attended universities in the United States. She worked as a writer at the United Nations; she taught in Hong Kong and Singapore and was an editor with Oxford, Yale and Stanford University presses. Then she discovered the world of philanthropy and has been involved in it for the past 25 years. From 1978 to the end of 1987, she directed the environment and international population program for the Hewlett foundation in California but found herself asking why aren't women singled out for aid?



Women comprise more than 51% of the world's population. "Women worldwide do almost all of the world's domestic work, yet we seldom receive income for the time and effort this work entails. Women provide more healthcare than all the organized health care services, and yet many women lack equal access to health care for themselves. Women grow more than half of the world's food, yet we own only 1% of the world's land. Women make up one third of the world's paid labor force, yet we are concentrated in the lowest paid occupations".....there are 80 million more boys than girls enrolled in primary and secondary schools and women hold no more than 10% of the seats in national legislatures.



At times like these, if we watch the news on television or read newspapers, the world looks doomed by terrorists and fundamentalists. but this book has given me so much hope and encouragement to keep on trying to make my small part of the world a little bit better . And to learn. "The Best thing for being sad... is to learn something. That is the only thing that never fails".(T. H. White, The Once and Future King)



Anne uses her garden, which is magnificent, as metaphor throughout her book. She is an instinctive nurturer and my friends who met her when she visited me in El Pitillal, Mexico three years ago remember vividly her emphasis on inclusion and how vital it is to listen and encourage everyone. She showed us how compassion and connection come easily for women. Anne

Ms. Murray describes Paradigm Found as the "book for people who want success in making the world a better place and who want to be inspired by specific evidence that positive change is possible"



(Reviewed in Bay Vallarta Magazine June 15, 2006)

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Paradigm Found Indeed!, August 10, 2006

By 

A. K. Wilkinson (Bay Area, California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Paradigm Found: Leading and Managing for Positive Change (Paperback)

Anne Firth Murray has written a truly marvelous and thought-provoking book, straight from the heart. It is hard to classify in one particular genre or another. Rather it is written in a unique style as a combination of a memoir, a good story, a motivational/inspirational book, and a manual. I really enjoyed not only learning about the history of the Global Fund for Women and all the wonderful, dedicated people that made it happen, but also learning more about Anne Firth Murray's life and the ideals she describes in her book.

It satisfies those who love good autobiographies and inspirational stories. And it also satisfies those who seek to learn about how one builds a strong organization from the roots up, from meaningful ideals to meaningful change. For me, this book was rejuvenating and energizing to read. It gave me new ideas and has inspired me all over again. I would think that each new reader who flips through its pages will experience similar self-reflection and inspiration in her or his own way.

This is a treasure of a book. I think it is a great book for all to read--young and old, women and men, and people working in all capacities. Students and young people are who starting out in pursuit of careers in human rights or in non-profit work will benefit in particular from the inspirational guidance that this book offers.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Invaluable to anyone who wants to make a difference, June 14, 2006

By 

Darius C. Dunlap "Executive Director & co-Fou... (Half Moon Bay, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Paradigm Found: Leading and Managing for Positive Change (Paperback)

This is not just a book for charities and foundations. Anyone trying to build something that has meaning - that's meant to make a difference - will find this book to be invaluable.

Paradigm Found is Anne Firth Murray's personal story of creating and building The Global Fund for Women. But it's also an inspiring look at the growth of an organization and the importance of knowing what you stand for and building it into everything you do.