We had an interesting exchange on Twitter the other day, about the lack of attention given by the media to lesser-known election candidates. Partially aside, it was the kind of thing I’ve been hoping to see for a while — a lively backchannel discussion about how local politics news is covered — and I hope [...]
leadership
Who’s responsible for the “inspiration deficit” in Canadian politics? Why of course, blame the young: The young reject the political status quo, as they should, but they are too lazy to do anything about it. Most of the under-25s don’t even bother to vote. Instead of fighting for change, they wallow in their vanities and [...]
At HarvardBusiness.org, Tammy Erickson writes, Future leaders in all spheres will have to contend with a world with finite limits, no easy answers, and the sobering realization that we are facing significant, seemingly intractable problems on multiple fronts. Perhaps the biggest change from the past: leaders will have to listen and respond to diverse points [...]
I can’t see the merit in complaints that Obama’s Cairo speech “didn’t set out any concrete new policies.” The last thing the Israel-Palestine conflict, for example, needs, is more policy-for-the-sake-of-policy… “Look: concrete action: a new treaty!… a new accord!… a new roadmap for peace!” What Obama has done is established a background, or foundation on [...]
I first saw Tom Brokaw talking about this historical moment as “a reset” when he was talking about the AIG bonuses on Meet the Press a month or so ago (I just happened to tune-in for the first time in ages). Then today when I saw his op-ed in the New York Times start with [...]
I made this claim (here) just after the Democratic Convention, now a couple of business gurus who blog for Harvard Business Publishing are confirming it: Barack Obama is not only an exemplary political leader, but would make an exemplary business leader as well. Bill Taylor wrote today about How Barack Obama Became CEO of the USA. [...]
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev started video blogging a month ago. His latest post went up yesterday (‘tip FP Passport), describing the work-in-progress on his big, formal state-of-the-nation speech coming up on Wednesday. Depending on which candidate wins the US election tomorrow ;-) we might see this kind of thing from the US president too — and, [...]
As I write this I’m watching this conversation, part of Harvard Business School’s centennial celebration, with John Doerr, Jeffrey Immelt, James Wolfensohn, Meg Whitman, and Anand Mahindra. To tell the truth, I wasn’t expecting much, but it turned out to be pretty interesting and insightful. At the very least it’s refreshing to see top business leaders referring directly [...]
(continued) … is absolutely essential if you have any intention of leading. This is one of the oldest ideas in philosophy, we keep coming back to it again and again and again, but people keep forgetting. David Frum discussed this a few days ago, in a post on “Presidential Knowledge“: Somebody who knew President Bush [...]
[Originally written in March, 2007... It was the first complete & coherent thing I wrote outside of school. It's far from well-written, but the background behind everything I do is in here... somewhere (it demonstrates more than it articulates).] Contents: i. A Résumé, a story about itself, a creative consummation… ii. Common points of reference / [...]
Burying the Best and the Brightest
by OpenConceptual on 07-09-2009
in commentary
I’ve been thinking about the pernicious effects of our overachievement society again, this time by way of Philip Delves Broughton (via NYTimes Opinionator), in a post called The McNamara Syndrome. The following is actually from the author’s book, Ahead of the Curve: One of the most famous alumni of Harvard’s MBA program is Robert McNamara, [...]
Tagged as: best and the brightest, careers, creativity, education, leadership, learning, management, opportunity, overachievement, robert mcnamara, war, work