A Better Workplace - Recommended Books for Building a Better Workplace

Daniel Robin & Associates

Making Workplaces Work Better

Featured Living Systems Books for Building a Better Workplace

These are our current favorites for leaders of organizational change, entrepreneurs, business people, and those interested in the connections between nature and business. Our tribute to nature's designs, chaos and complexity. Enjoy!

Olson, Edwin E., Eoyang, Glenda H., Beckhard, Richard (2001) Facilitating Organizational Change: Lessons from Complexity Science, 160 pages, John Wiley & Sons, $29.95. Synopsis: Provides a language and practical set of tools and models for applying understandings of complex adaptive systems (CAS) to organizational change. Applies complexity theory so that leaders and facilitators can better use these tools for addressing challenges and complexity inside and outside their company's systems. Picks up where The Dance of Change (Senge et al) leaves off. Highly recommended.

Nattrass, Brian; Altomare, Mary; Naijrass, Brian (1999), The Natural Step for Business: Wealth, Ecology and the Evolutionary Corporate (Conscientious Commerce). 222 pages, New Society Publishing, $16.95. This book clearly explains the powerful framework of The Natural Step, a scientific definition of sustainability, but also gives some excellent practical examples of major corporations starting down the path towards sustainability. This will give them a great competitive edge. With such examples, one can remain optimistic in the face of the torrent of negatives about the degenerating nature of the world environment. Includes many "how to" implement tips and ideas.

Pascale, Richard T., Millemann, Mark, and Gioja, Linda. (2000), Surfing the Edge of Chaos: The Laws of Nature and the New Laws of Business. 320 pages, Crown Publishing, $21.56. Every few years a book changes the way people think about a field. In psychology there is Daniel Goleman's Emotional Intelligence. In science, James Gleick's Chaos. In economics and finance, Burton Malkiel's A Random Walk Down Wall Street. And in business, there's this one, a brilliant, powerful, and practical book about the parallels between business and nature -- two fields that feature nonstop battles between the forces of tradition and the forces of transformation. It offers a bold new way of thinking about and responding to the personal and strategic challenges everyone in business faces these days.

Pascale, Millemann, and Gioja argue that because every business is a living system (not just as metaphor but in reality), the four cornerstone principles of the life sciences are just as true for organizations as they are for species. These principles are:

1. Equilibrium is death.
2. Innovation usually takes place on the edge of chaos.
3. Self-organization and emergence occur naturally.
4. Organizations can only be disturbed, not directed.

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