I’ve been reading a book my mother-in-law gave me, The Circle of Innovation by Tom Peters. This book, like many others that come from my mother-in-law, is fascinating.
It was written about 12 years ago. Some of the examples that Peter’s holds up as exemplar for the point he’s trying to make have since fallen by the way side. That’s notable. Does that mean that Peter’s point isn’t valid, or were there other reasons for their downfall?
His writing is filled with biblical imagery and language, yet he tends to cuss like a sailor. One wouldn’t think of Peter’s as a pietist.
Looking at the current financial crisis striking our country, and reading Peter’s, you might want to call him a prophet. He encourages his readers that they had better return to an ideal of seeing themselves as responsible business entities. That the good generals of the past will not continue into the future – General Electric, General Motors, and so forth.
He also included or coined (I don’t know if it’s original with him – it could be) a phrase that struck me as powerful in terms of what we’re eventually to become: “Relentless architects of the possibilities of human beings.” That sounds like the task of shepherding.
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