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Reviews
Synchronicity: The Inner Path of Leadership by Betty Sue Flowers, Joseph Jaworski, Peter M. Serge
papidoc's review against another edition
I struggled a bit with Synchronicity, but on the whole, it was very worthwhile reading. There were times when the author was too "out there" for me, though he might view some of my own beliefs in a similar fashion. At other times, what he learned and conveyed, the points he was trying to get across to his reader, made perfect sense within my own world view. Mostly, I thought it was often thought-provoking, sometimes even inspiring, and well worth the read. In his own way, and as a result of his life experiences, he seems to have come to some very similar conclusions as I. Consider the following:
1. "I discovered that people are not really afraid of dying, they're afraid of not ever having lived." I think that is very true, and sometimes it leads people to good, productive, uplifting behavior, while other times it does not.
2. "...this new understanding if what's missing in how we think about leadership. We're always talking about what leaders do -- about leadership style and function -- but we put very little emphasis on the being aspect of leadership."
3. (Referencing Greenleaf) "The essence of leadership...is the desire to serve another and to serve something beyond ourselves, a higher purpose."
4. "Leadership is all about the release of human possibilities."
5. "Dialogue does not require people to agree with each other. Instead, it encourages people to participate in a pool of shared meaning that leads to aligned action...out of thes new shared meaning, people can and will take coordinated and effective action without necessarily agreeing about the reasons for the action. When people sit in dialogue together, they are exercising leadership as a whole."
6. "When we are in the process of creating something, we must have the flexibility of mind to move with what needs to be done. What allows this to happen is precisely the fact that we're not attached to how things should be done...We get attached to our assumptions about how things should get done, and we lose sight of what we're trying to create. This notion of focusing on the results is a fundamental premise..."
7. "How do you know people are committed? Because they are taking action. They are crossing the threshold of adventure, and this is the necessary first step toward the inner transformation Greenleaf spoke about."
8. "I realized that small changes at just the right place can have a systemwide impact."
9. "To put it another way, we do not describe the world we see, but we see the world we describe."
10. "If individuals and organizations operate from the generative orientation, from possibility rather than resignation, we can create the future into which we are living, as opposed to merely reacting to it when we get there."
11. "...true leadership is about creating a domain in which we continually learn and become more capable of participating in our unfolding future. A true leader thus sets the stage on which predictable miracles, synchronistic in nature, can -- and do -- occur. The capacity to discover and participate in our unfolding future has more to do with out being -- our total orientation of character and consciousness -- than with what we do."
12. "Everything I have studied...has confirmed to me that relationship is the organizing principle of the universe."
13. "The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift."
He (re)told this story at the end of the book:
"Tell me the weight of a snowflake," a coal-mouse asked a wild dove. "Nothing more than nothing," was the answer. "In that case, I must tell you a marvelous story," the coal-mouse said.
"I sat on the branch of a fir, close to its trunk, when it began to snow -- not heavily, not in a raging blizzard -- no, just like in a dream, without a wound and without any violence. Since I did not have anything better to do, I counted the snowflakes settling on the twigs and needles of my branch. Their number was exactly 3,741,952. When the 3,741,953rd dropped onto the branch, nothing more than nothing, as you say -- the branch broke off. Having said that, the coal-mouse flew away.
The dove, since Noah's time an authority on the matter, thought about the story for awhile, and finally said to herself, "Perhaps there is only one person's voice lacking for peace to come to the world."
As Jaworski said, "Perhaps there is only one person's voice lacking for peace to come to the world." Or to a person, a family, a neighborhood, a community, or an organization.
1. "I discovered that people are not really afraid of dying, they're afraid of not ever having lived." I think that is very true, and sometimes it leads people to good, productive, uplifting behavior, while other times it does not.
2. "...this new understanding if what's missing in how we think about leadership. We're always talking about what leaders do -- about leadership style and function -- but we put very little emphasis on the being aspect of leadership."
3. (Referencing Greenleaf) "The essence of leadership...is the desire to serve another and to serve something beyond ourselves, a higher purpose."
4. "Leadership is all about the release of human possibilities."
5. "Dialogue does not require people to agree with each other. Instead, it encourages people to participate in a pool of shared meaning that leads to aligned action...out of thes new shared meaning, people can and will take coordinated and effective action without necessarily agreeing about the reasons for the action. When people sit in dialogue together, they are exercising leadership as a whole."
6. "When we are in the process of creating something, we must have the flexibility of mind to move with what needs to be done. What allows this to happen is precisely the fact that we're not attached to how things should be done...We get attached to our assumptions about how things should get done, and we lose sight of what we're trying to create. This notion of focusing on the results is a fundamental premise..."
7. "How do you know people are committed? Because they are taking action. They are crossing the threshold of adventure, and this is the necessary first step toward the inner transformation Greenleaf spoke about."
8. "I realized that small changes at just the right place can have a systemwide impact."
9. "To put it another way, we do not describe the world we see, but we see the world we describe."
10. "If individuals and organizations operate from the generative orientation, from possibility rather than resignation, we can create the future into which we are living, as opposed to merely reacting to it when we get there."
11. "...true leadership is about creating a domain in which we continually learn and become more capable of participating in our unfolding future. A true leader thus sets the stage on which predictable miracles, synchronistic in nature, can -- and do -- occur. The capacity to discover and participate in our unfolding future has more to do with out being -- our total orientation of character and consciousness -- than with what we do."
12. "Everything I have studied...has confirmed to me that relationship is the organizing principle of the universe."
13. "The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift."
He (re)told this story at the end of the book:
"Tell me the weight of a snowflake," a coal-mouse asked a wild dove. "Nothing more than nothing," was the answer. "In that case, I must tell you a marvelous story," the coal-mouse said.
"I sat on the branch of a fir, close to its trunk, when it began to snow -- not heavily, not in a raging blizzard -- no, just like in a dream, without a wound and without any violence. Since I did not have anything better to do, I counted the snowflakes settling on the twigs and needles of my branch. Their number was exactly 3,741,952. When the 3,741,953rd dropped onto the branch, nothing more than nothing, as you say -- the branch broke off. Having said that, the coal-mouse flew away.
The dove, since Noah's time an authority on the matter, thought about the story for awhile, and finally said to herself, "Perhaps there is only one person's voice lacking for peace to come to the world."
As Jaworski said, "Perhaps there is only one person's voice lacking for peace to come to the world." Or to a person, a family, a neighborhood, a community, or an organization.
forestjay's review against another edition
slow-paced
2.75
Mostly full of platitudes about how wishful thinking can help you to achieve success.
papi's review against another edition
I struggled a bit with Synchronicity, but on the whole, it was very worthwhile reading. There were times when the author was too "out there" for me, though he might view some of my own beliefs in a similar fashion. At other times, what he learned and conveyed, the points he was trying to get across to his reader, made perfect sense within my own world view. Mostly, I thought it was often thought-provoking, sometimes even inspiring, and well worth the read. In his own way, and as a result of his life experiences, he seems to have come to some very similar conclusions as I. Consider the following:
1. "I discovered that people are not really afraid of dying, they're afraid of not ever having lived." I think that is very true, and sometimes it leads people to good, productive, uplifting behavior, while other times it does not.
2. "...this new understanding if what's missing in how we think about leadership. We're always talking about what leaders do -- about leadership style and function -- but we put very little emphasis on the being aspect of leadership."
3. (Referencing Greenleaf) "The essence of leadership...is the desire to serve another and to serve something beyond ourselves, a higher purpose."
4. "Leadership is all about the release of human possibilities."
5. "Dialogue does not require people to agree with each other. Instead, it encourages people to participate in a pool of shared meaning that leads to aligned action...out of thes new shared meaning, people can and will take coordinated and effective action without necessarily agreeing about the reasons for the action. When people sit in dialogue together, they are exercising leadership as a whole."
6. "When we are in the process of creating something, we must have the flexibility of mind to move with what needs to be done. What allows this to happen is precisely the fact that we're not attached to how things should be done...We get attached to our assumptions about how things should get done, and we lose sight of what we're trying to create. This notion of focusing on the results is a fundamental premise..."
7. "How do you know people are committed? Because they are taking action. They are crossing the threshold of adventure, and this is the necessary first step toward the inner transformation Greenleaf spoke about."
8. "I realized that small changes at just the right place can have a systemwide impact."
9. "To put it another way, we do not describe the world we see, but we see the world we describe."
10. "If individuals and organizations operate from the generative orientation, from possibility rather than resignation, we can create the future into which we are living, as opposed to merely reacting to it when we get there."
11. "...true leadership is about creating a domain in which we continually learn and become more capable of participating in our unfolding future. A true leader thus sets the stage on which predictable miracles, synchronistic in nature, can -- and do -- occur. The capacity to discover and participate in our unfolding future has more to do with out being -- our total orientation of character and consciousness -- than with what we do."
12. "Everything I have studied...has confirmed to me that relationship is the organizing principle of the universe."
13. "The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift."
He (re)told this story at the end of the book:
"Tell me the weight of a snowflake," a coal-mouse asked a wild dove. "Nothing more than nothing," was the answer. "In that case, I must tell you a marvelous story," the coal-mouse said.
"I sat on the branch of a fir, close to its trunk, when it began to snow -- not heavily, not in a raging blizzard -- no, just like in a dream, without a wound and without any violence. Since I did not have anything better to do, I counted the snowflakes settling on the twigs and needles of my branch. Their number was exactly 3,741,952. When the 3,741,953rd dropped onto the branch, nothing more than nothing, as you say -- the branch broke off. Having said that, the coal-mouse flew away.
The dove, since Noah's time an authority on the matter, thought about the story for awhile, and finally said to herself, "Perhaps there is only one person's voice lacking for peace to come to the world."
As Jaworski said, "Perhaps there is only one person's voice lacking for peace to come to the world." Or to a person, a family, a neighborhood, a community, or an organization.
1. "I discovered that people are not really afraid of dying, they're afraid of not ever having lived." I think that is very true, and sometimes it leads people to good, productive, uplifting behavior, while other times it does not.
2. "...this new understanding if what's missing in how we think about leadership. We're always talking about what leaders do -- about leadership style and function -- but we put very little emphasis on the being aspect of leadership."
3. (Referencing Greenleaf) "The essence of leadership...is the desire to serve another and to serve something beyond ourselves, a higher purpose."
4. "Leadership is all about the release of human possibilities."
5. "Dialogue does not require people to agree with each other. Instead, it encourages people to participate in a pool of shared meaning that leads to aligned action...out of thes new shared meaning, people can and will take coordinated and effective action without necessarily agreeing about the reasons for the action. When people sit in dialogue together, they are exercising leadership as a whole."
6. "When we are in the process of creating something, we must have the flexibility of mind to move with what needs to be done. What allows this to happen is precisely the fact that we're not attached to how things should be done...We get attached to our assumptions about how things should get done, and we lose sight of what we're trying to create. This notion of focusing on the results is a fundamental premise..."
7. "How do you know people are committed? Because they are taking action. They are crossing the threshold of adventure, and this is the necessary first step toward the inner transformation Greenleaf spoke about."
8. "I realized that small changes at just the right place can have a systemwide impact."
9. "To put it another way, we do not describe the world we see, but we see the world we describe."
10. "If individuals and organizations operate from the generative orientation, from possibility rather than resignation, we can create the future into which we are living, as opposed to merely reacting to it when we get there."
11. "...true leadership is about creating a domain in which we continually learn and become more capable of participating in our unfolding future. A true leader thus sets the stage on which predictable miracles, synchronistic in nature, can -- and do -- occur. The capacity to discover and participate in our unfolding future has more to do with out being -- our total orientation of character and consciousness -- than with what we do."
12. "Everything I have studied...has confirmed to me that relationship is the organizing principle of the universe."
13. "The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift."
He (re)told this story at the end of the book:
"Tell me the weight of a snowflake," a coal-mouse asked a wild dove. "Nothing more than nothing," was the answer. "In that case, I must tell you a marvelous story," the coal-mouse said.
"I sat on the branch of a fir, close to its trunk, when it began to snow -- not heavily, not in a raging blizzard -- no, just like in a dream, without a wound and without any violence. Since I did not have anything better to do, I counted the snowflakes settling on the twigs and needles of my branch. Their number was exactly 3,741,952. When the 3,741,953rd dropped onto the branch, nothing more than nothing, as you say -- the branch broke off. Having said that, the coal-mouse flew away.
The dove, since Noah's time an authority on the matter, thought about the story for awhile, and finally said to herself, "Perhaps there is only one person's voice lacking for peace to come to the world."
As Jaworski said, "Perhaps there is only one person's voice lacking for peace to come to the world." Or to a person, a family, a neighborhood, a community, or an organization.
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