This provacative book invites us to look at our lives as individual and unique paths we make in the world and leave behind after we are gone. It is written for people who want to live their lives "thoughtfully", who want to be proud of how they live their lives, and who want to grow in the process.
Over forty years, I've seen organizations and work from many angles. I've been a corporate manager, struggling with life in the middle of that muddle; my first book, THE QUEST FOR STAFF LEADERSHIP, grew out of that. My years as a consultant resulted in THE CONSULTANTS CALLING. My decades long love/hate relationship with organizations was put between the covers of THE BEAUTY OF THE BEAST: BREATHING NEW LIFE INTO ORGANIZATIONS. Watching my clients (and myself)aspire to greatness within companies controlled by others-not-me led to GETTING THINGS DONE WHEN YOU ARE NOT IN CHARGE. And along the way I was living my own life, leading to YOUR SIGNATURE PATH: GAINING NEW PERSPECTIVES ON LIFE AND WORK.
My most recent book, EXTRAORDINARY GROUPS: HOW ORDINARY TEAMS ACHIEVE AMAZING RESULTS, was written with consultant and friend, Kathleen Ryan. We share a fascination with teams, families, committees, crews, and groups that perform beyond everyone's expectations. What allows that to happen??? We decided to find out, interviewed people from sixty quite different groups, and came to conclusions that surprised even us! All of this--and what to do about it--is explored in EXTRAORDINARY GROUPS.
Like many of us, I do my best work when I have a chance to step back and reflect before taking action. My books come out of reflection. My writing process begins with a conversation between myself and my screen, capturing my current fascinations. No outline, no subject really, just reflecting and writing to myself. This results in 200-300 hundred pages before my writing energy is spent. Then, I print it out and read it for the first time. What am I talking about??? I'm usually surprised at how many useless and useful thoughts I can generate. The useful thoughts provide bones for the skeletal structure on my thinking; it usually just emerges. I often don't know what "animal" these bones will form. And, of course, some bones are missing and some I have too many of. I begin to be intentional about what I'm creating, and am still five or six drafts away from what reaches you.
