Synchronicity is an inspirational guide to developing the most essential leadership capacity for our time: how we can collectively shape our future. Through the telling of his life story, Jaworski posits that a real leader sets the stage on which "predictable miracles, " seemingly synchronistic in nature, can - and do - occur. He shows that this capacity has more to do with our being - our total orientation of character and consciousness - than with what we do. Leadership, he explains, is about creating - day by day - a domain in which human beings continually deepen their understanding of reality and are able to participate in shaping the future. He describes three basic shifts of mind required if we are to create and discover an unfolding future - shifts in how we see the world, how we understand relationships, and how we make commitments - and offers a new definition of leadership that applies to all types of leaders.
Synchronicity (Bk Business)
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Library Journal
Jaworski, the son of Watergate special prosecutor Leon Jaworski, here presents his personal philosophy of life. As founder of the American Leadership Forum, Jaworski espouses the value of servant leadership, which calls for leadership that is relationship-oriented, creative, and constructive. Additionally, he comments on the world economic situation. Regrettably, the author seems too self-absorbed at times, wandering from topic to topic without providing any insight. At one point, Jaworski claims, "We are all one," but how does one apply that to leadership? Due to the lack of any practical ideas, this recording is not recommended.?Mark Guyer, Stark Cty. Dist. Lib., Canton, Ohio
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.
From Scientific American
"Synchronicity illustrates that leadership is about the release of human possibilities, about enabling others to break free of limits-created organizationally or self-imposed. Although this book describes the author's personal journey, it contains profound messages about organizational learning and effectiveness."
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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84 of 90 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Synchronicity is one of the most inspiring books I know on leadership. The book is a fascinating and holistic blend of the personal and the professional. Jaworski is a name you may already be familiar with. He is the son of Watergate prosecutor, Leon Jaworski. His career is facinating. He began his professional life as a high-powered attorney in Houston. He chased after and won all of the trappings of external success. Then, suddently, his wife announced she was leaving him, and he was forced to confront himself, his values, and the meaning and purpose of his life. The rest seems to flow out of this pivotal experience. Jaworski left the practice of law and went on to become founder, chairman, and CEO of the American Leadership Forum. This organization continues to serve established local leaders and promotes collaborative problem-solving in communities and regions for the public good. In the early 90's, he joined Royal Dutch Shell in London as head of Global Scenario Planning. The initiative he led there is credited as instrumental in the peaceful transfer of power in South Africa which put an end to the government of apartheid. At the time the book was published, Jaworski was with MIT's Center for Organizational Learning which later closed in 1997. His role there was to work with leading corporations on building learning organizations, a topic which still receives considerable focus in leadership circles. It's a concept that appeals to many, and yet few have succeeded in implementing one. The old models die hard. Still, change is in the air.
The book speaks to topics that resonate with us at a deep level: integrity, commitment, responsibility, values, meaning, vulnerability, trust, collaboration, to name a few.
The book begins with a familiar story. A man seeking what we've been led to believe is success. Prestige as a high-powered attorney, a big income and a big home. Then his world falls apart when his wife leaves him, and his identity proceeds to fall apart. He rebuilds a life that is based on authenticity. He speaks of finding the flow in his life when he honors an inner call. He has a vision of what is possible. He sees his life and his choices as intimately connected with the world. He sees himself and his actions in relationship, not isolated and separate. He notes the the busyness of his earlier life as symptomatic of a larger of dis-ease in our culture. We spend too much of our time on activity and too little time on being present to what's really happening around us. We've forgotten the power we have as a witness. We fear having too much time to reflect, instinctively knowing that we're going to have to face ourselves and our lives at a deeper level than we're comfortable with. We're hooked on the notion that commitment and activity are inseparable. So we create a continual stream of activity, making sure that everybody sees us doing lots of things so they'll believe we're actually committed. If we stay busy enough, maybe we'll even convince ourselves that our lives had some meaning even though, deep down, we know they couldn't possibly have any meaning, because everything is hopeless and we're hopeless, and we couldn't possibly affect anything anyhow. Often, it takes a crisis to cause us to question the value of our lives and our activity.
He speaks of proper timing -- that situations unfold at an organic pace that is impossible to rush. All of our pushing and forcing serves mainly to exhaust us. There is a natural flow to our individual lives and to the times in which we live. Nothing of real substance can be pushed or forced to fruition. The purpose of life and our individual lives is revealed at a mysterious pace that the rational mind cannot grasp. There are things that want to happen. We can either fight or embrace the natural flow of our life, thus being an integral part of that larger flow of life. We won't find more riches anywhere else than in our own experience. Jaworski also speaks to an intriguing notion he calls economy of means. Change one small thing and the repercussions can be enormous. How is is possible to see which thread of a situation or a challenge needs to be pulled in order for everything to fall into place without the space for reflection? Economy of means. It's the notion that with perspective and awareness, we can see opportunities we couldn't see before. And seeing these opportunities, we can sense when the moment is right to act, and we will know exactly what needs to be done.
We begin to see that with very small movements, at just the right time and place, all sorts of consequent actions are brought into being. We develop what artists refer to as an "economy of means," where, rather than getting things done through effort and brute force, we start to operate very subtly. A flow of meaning begins to operate around us, as if we were part of a larger conversation. This is the ancient meaning
of dialogue: (dia .logos) "flow of meaning." We start to notice that things suddenly are just attracted to us in ways that are very puzzling. A structure of underlying causes, a set of forces, begins to operate, as if we were surrounded by a magnetic field with magnets being aligned spontaneously in this field. But this alignment is not spontaneous at all -- it's just that the magnets are responding to a more subtle level of
causality.
He writes at some length about his experience at Shell with scenario planning. It's a tool for strategic planning at a level most of us are not yet used to working at. Its objective is to create the future with greater awareness of the consequences of our choices through collaboration and dialogue. The approach was designed to uncover and directly impact the mental models used individually and collectively to make choices large and small. Our mental model is the totality of the opinions, judgements, and beliefs that act as a filter, preventing us from seeing a situation clearly as it is without bias. The work led by Royal Dutch Shell included a diverse team of international experts. The team developed two scenarios known as "New Frontiers" and "Barricades" and two sets of wide-ranging implications on the international community, the environment, energy, economics, politics, business, and people.
Writing "Barricades" was a sobering experience for the entire team. We had been as realistic and conservative as we could in the development of this scenario, yet we had drawn a chilling picture of an increasingly divided world with anarchy enveloping society within our children's lifetime.
New Frontiers is a world where the center of gravity of the world economy shifts from the rich to the poor.... It's a story of new demands, new opportunity, turbulence, and vast change, resulting in governments and businesses being challenged beyond what they thought possible.
Jaworski calls dialogue the power of collective thinking. It's the idea that there is a collective consciousness at the level of the family, the community, the nation, and the world at large. There is a collective consciousness implicit in the times in which we live. These two scenarios were widely presented in 2- and 3-day workshops. Presentations were made to government officials, the business community, black community groups and leaders in exile. The initiative was successful in getting a critical mass of key individuals to focus their attention on choices and their consequences, about the unsustainability of the system and the consequences that each scenario might have on the international community, the environment, the opportuntity for other choices. And power was transferred peacefully in South Africa.
Jaworski describes three fundamental shifts of mind necessary for the creative leadership that will solve some of the world's tougher dilemmas:
1) A shift from resignation to a sense of possibility that comes from seeing the universe as a magical dance, full of living qualities rather than a linear, logical, and predictable view of what's really going on.
2) A shift from seeing ourselves as separate and isolated from everything else that we see "out there" to seeing the world holistically as a web of relationships. Change one small thing and everything else is subtly different.
3) A shift in the nature of our commitment from a highly disciplined proposition in which you "seize fate by the throat and do whatever it takes to suceed" to a deeper level of commitment that comes from an willing spirit. This sense of willingness opens us up to connect with our inner guidance systems and wisdom. To hear the call, to recognize an innate sense of purpose and to accept and honor that.
As these shifts occur, we will notice that synchronicity comes into our life, both the personal and the professional. Synchronity, is defined by Carl Jung as "a meaningful coincidence of two or more events, where something other than the probability of change is involved." When synchronicity comes into our life, it's an indication that we are on the path. There is a sense of ease and excitement, a sense of true belonging to ourself, to one another, to the times in which we live, and to life.
The book speaks to topics that resonate with us at a deep level: integrity, commitment, responsibility, values, meaning, vulnerability, trust, collaboration, to name a few.
The book begins with a familiar story. A man seeking what we've been led to believe is success. Prestige as a high-powered attorney, a big income and a big home. Then his world falls apart when his wife leaves him, and his identity proceeds to fall apart. He rebuilds a life that is based on authenticity. He speaks of finding the flow in his life when he honors an inner call. He has a vision of what is possible. He sees his life and his choices as intimately connected with the world. He sees himself and his actions in relationship, not isolated and separate. He notes the the busyness of his earlier life as symptomatic of a larger of dis-ease in our culture. We spend too much of our time on activity and too little time on being present to what's really happening around us. We've forgotten the power we have as a witness. We fear having too much time to reflect, instinctively knowing that we're going to have to face ourselves and our lives at a deeper level than we're comfortable with. We're hooked on the notion that commitment and activity are inseparable. So we create a continual stream of activity, making sure that everybody sees us doing lots of things so they'll believe we're actually committed. If we stay busy enough, maybe we'll even convince ourselves that our lives had some meaning even though, deep down, we know they couldn't possibly have any meaning, because everything is hopeless and we're hopeless, and we couldn't possibly affect anything anyhow. Often, it takes a crisis to cause us to question the value of our lives and our activity.
He speaks of proper timing -- that situations unfold at an organic pace that is impossible to rush. All of our pushing and forcing serves mainly to exhaust us. There is a natural flow to our individual lives and to the times in which we live. Nothing of real substance can be pushed or forced to fruition. The purpose of life and our individual lives is revealed at a mysterious pace that the rational mind cannot grasp. There are things that want to happen. We can either fight or embrace the natural flow of our life, thus being an integral part of that larger flow of life. We won't find more riches anywhere else than in our own experience. Jaworski also speaks to an intriguing notion he calls economy of means. Change one small thing and the repercussions can be enormous. How is is possible to see which thread of a situation or a challenge needs to be pulled in order for everything to fall into place without the space for reflection? Economy of means. It's the notion that with perspective and awareness, we can see opportunities we couldn't see before. And seeing these opportunities, we can sense when the moment is right to act, and we will know exactly what needs to be done.
We begin to see that with very small movements, at just the right time and place, all sorts of consequent actions are brought into being. We develop what artists refer to as an "economy of means," where, rather than getting things done through effort and brute force, we start to operate very subtly. A flow of meaning begins to operate around us, as if we were part of a larger conversation. This is the ancient meaning
of dialogue: (dia .logos) "flow of meaning." We start to notice that things suddenly are just attracted to us in ways that are very puzzling. A structure of underlying causes, a set of forces, begins to operate, as if we were surrounded by a magnetic field with magnets being aligned spontaneously in this field. But this alignment is not spontaneous at all -- it's just that the magnets are responding to a more subtle level of
causality.
He writes at some length about his experience at Shell with scenario planning. It's a tool for strategic planning at a level most of us are not yet used to working at. Its objective is to create the future with greater awareness of the consequences of our choices through collaboration and dialogue. The approach was designed to uncover and directly impact the mental models used individually and collectively to make choices large and small. Our mental model is the totality of the opinions, judgements, and beliefs that act as a filter, preventing us from seeing a situation clearly as it is without bias. The work led by Royal Dutch Shell included a diverse team of international experts. The team developed two scenarios known as "New Frontiers" and "Barricades" and two sets of wide-ranging implications on the international community, the environment, energy, economics, politics, business, and people.
Writing "Barricades" was a sobering experience for the entire team. We had been as realistic and conservative as we could in the development of this scenario, yet we had drawn a chilling picture of an increasingly divided world with anarchy enveloping society within our children's lifetime.
New Frontiers is a world where the center of gravity of the world economy shifts from the rich to the poor.... It's a story of new demands, new opportunity, turbulence, and vast change, resulting in governments and businesses being challenged beyond what they thought possible.
Jaworski calls dialogue the power of collective thinking. It's the idea that there is a collective consciousness at the level of the family, the community, the nation, and the world at large. There is a collective consciousness implicit in the times in which we live. These two scenarios were widely presented in 2- and 3-day workshops. Presentations were made to government officials, the business community, black community groups and leaders in exile. The initiative was successful in getting a critical mass of key individuals to focus their attention on choices and their consequences, about the unsustainability of the system and the consequences that each scenario might have on the international community, the environment, the opportuntity for other choices. And power was transferred peacefully in South Africa.
Jaworski describes three fundamental shifts of mind necessary for the creative leadership that will solve some of the world's tougher dilemmas:
1) A shift from resignation to a sense of possibility that comes from seeing the universe as a magical dance, full of living qualities rather than a linear, logical, and predictable view of what's really going on.
2) A shift from seeing ourselves as separate and isolated from everything else that we see "out there" to seeing the world holistically as a web of relationships. Change one small thing and everything else is subtly different.
3) A shift in the nature of our commitment from a highly disciplined proposition in which you "seize fate by the throat and do whatever it takes to suceed" to a deeper level of commitment that comes from an willing spirit. This sense of willingness opens us up to connect with our inner guidance systems and wisdom. To hear the call, to recognize an innate sense of purpose and to accept and honor that.
As these shifts occur, we will notice that synchronicity comes into our life, both the personal and the professional. Synchronity, is defined by Carl Jung as "a meaningful coincidence of two or more events, where something other than the probability of change is involved." When synchronicity comes into our life, it's an indication that we are on the path. There is a sense of ease and excitement, a sense of true belonging to ourself, to one another, to the times in which we live, and to life.
72 of 78 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Many books about leadership view the subject as being akin to mechanical engineering. How do you get all those people (like cogs in a machine) to act in just the ways you want them to? Mostly written by leaders to describe their own experiences or by writers to explain what leaders told them, these books are unsatisfying in the extreme. Take a look at Flawed Advice and the Management Trap by Chris Argyris to get a further perspective on this problem. This book is totally different, and quite appealing.
Jaworski (son of Leon Jaworski, the famous special prosecutor of the Watergate scandal) tells of his personal journey from being a successful corporate lawyer to becoming someone who works on making leadership better for all of us. Like most personal journeys, this one has low points (his wife falling in love with another man and telling Jaworski to move out that day, his father not telling him that he loved him, and the deaths of a child of each of his two sisters) and some high points (breakthrough meetings with great thinkers and stimulating helpful change). You could read the book for this, and you would have the rewards of a nicely done biography of someone who is working towards living an exemplary life.
But there is more. Jaworski has accumulated some important insights into leadership that are well worth knowing. He makes an appealing case for servant leadership (the leader looks out for the group, rather than his self-interest). He also tells a fascinating tale of running the scenario development work at Royal Dutch Shell for 4 years. From this, he develops what seemed to me to be a profound insight: Scenarios can be used both to prepare for the future by helping us think through it in advance, and to create the future. That last thought provided me with a nice epiphany. Although I was very familiar with the Shell planning technique from the business literature and from talking to Arie de Geus about it, this implication had never dawned on me. I deeply appreciate learning this.
Beyond that, the book is a living testament to the importance of finding your true self and listening to the wee small voice of intuition that can steer you in the right direction. Jaworski to his credit has been quite willing to do both, and it has made all the difference.
Many books on leadership talk about the role as a state of being. That usually leaves me confused. Jaworski makes the same point, but through his personal history I was able to understand what he meant.
At another level, I found the book to be quite astonishing because it paralleled my own personal journal. I started out as a lawyer, heeded my inner voice to become a management consultant, and then heeded my inner voice again to become an author to spread important ideas about how people can become more effective in working with one another. He was fascinated by how to use scenarios to help the political transition in South Africa. I founded a company in the early 80s to find ethical ways for companies to leave South Africa while strenthening the position of nonwhite employees. I have read the works of everyone Jaworski cites in the book. At first, this seemed like a big coincidence. Then I realized that Arie de Geus is someone we both know, and he probably suggested more then a few of the authors to both of us. In fact, Arie de Geus played a pivotal role in the development of our new book, The Irresistible Growth Enterprise. Six degrees of separation is occuring all over again!
If you read this book, and read the works of those who Jaworski cites, you will have given yourself a valuable trip towards becoming the kind of signficant leader you have the potential to be. With the help of you wee, small inner voice, this should be an irresitible call to action!
31 of 35 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Hardcover
Many books on leadership are written for managers or those
unique individuals who will save the world. This book,
"Synchronicity," sheds some light on that community. More
important to me, it shed a light into some of the far, dusty
corners of my personal life.
unique individuals who will save the world. This book,
"Synchronicity," sheds some light on that community. More
important to me, it shed a light into some of the far, dusty
corners of my personal life.
I'm newly 48 years old with
many different jobs in the past and new challenges staring
me in my face. Mr. Jaworski's scenarios and suggestions did
a good job with two areas: (1) it rattled me into reviewing
the path that I have been working on and (2) it bolstered me
up in realizing that following "gut feelings" is not just
magic, it's hard work. So? Well, it's my path, my life but
now I have a different way to look positively at the past.
At the same time Mr. Jaworski has given me new ways of
looking ahead, sharpened my survival senses.
Thanks to "Synchronicity," I may not change the world you
know but, I am changing the world immediately around me...
for the better.
----Geo.Brett (not the baseball player)
Most Recent Customer Reviews
2.0 out of 5 stars
The hero's journey for the 1%
I could subtitle this book "a hero's journey for the 1%". It's an interesting read on how the author reacted to a lot of the challenges of his life. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Jeffrey Lopez-stuit
5.0 out of 5 stars
Love The Book
The book is amazing, it get's you thinking in new ways. In ways you wouldn't normally think. An awesome book for anyone who is having problems, and thinks they were meant to do... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Chancie Walker
5.0 out of 5 stars
A turning point in how I approach life
This book will appeal to those who study and work with leaders and leadership... it also speaks to those who sense that authenticity, intuition and presence can unlock our path and... Read more
Published 3 months ago by SJ Chapman
5.0 out of 5 stars
Synchronicity: The Inner Path of Leadership
I bought this book after reading some other reviews. Unfortunately, the more your read about management, the more you realise how many bad managers there are around. Read more
Published 3 months ago by John
4.0 out of 5 stars
A good read
This is Joseph Jaworski's spiritual journey from high powered corporate attorney and big business to enlightenment via a series of supposed coincidences. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Liz
4.0 out of 5 stars
An interesting perspective -
This book developed an interesting perspective on leadership, looking inward first at one's self, in terms of developing leaderhship capacity.
Published 5 months ago by T. Jones
1.0 out of 5 stars
Used?
This book was listed as Used - OK - but it was covered in blue ink and had been left in water. The pages were stuck together!
Published 5 months ago by T Teel
3.0 out of 5 stars
Useful and Not Useful -- Maybe Self Serving?
There is a part of me that really likes Jaworski's Synchronicity. The part of me that believes in wizards, unicorns, and fairy tales really loved the book. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Aaron U. Bolin
3.0 out of 5 stars
I wish I was Joe Jaworski
This Synchronicity business happened to me only once in my life, during the entire February 1971. I lived in the East Village and worked at Wall Street. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Tionesta
2.0 out of 5 stars
Don't waste your time....
This book tells the personal story of a shallow but sensitive alpha male (the author), who enters his midlife crisis, discovers some sort of spirituality in life, and calls the... Read more
Published 20 months ago by Astrid_Dom
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 44
books:
See all 44 books this book cites
85
books
cite this book:
See all 85 books citing this book
- The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell on 7 pages
- Wholeness and the Implicate Order by David Bohm on 6 pages
- The Hero with a Thousand Faces (Bollingen Series, No. 17) by Joseph Campbell on 6 pages
- The Fifth Discipline: The Art & Practice of the Learning Organization by Peter M. Senge on 4 pages
- The Art of Loving (Perennial Classics) by Erich Fromm on 4 pages
See all 44 books this book cites
- The Holy Web: Church and the New Universe Story by Cletus Wessels on 4 pages
- Dancing on the Glass Ceiling : Find Your True Strengths, Activate Your Vision, and Get What You Really Want out of Your Career by Candy Deemer on page 235, Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- The Primary School in Changing Times: The Australian Experience (Educational Management Series) by Tony Townsend in Front Matter, page 41, and page 47
- Solving Tough Problems: An Open Way of Talking, Listening, and Creating New Realities by Peter M Senge on page 27, Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Bridges Out of Poverty: Strategies for Professionals and Communities by Ruby K. Payne on page 172, Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
See all 85 books citing this book
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