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During The Boom Years, It Was So Easy To Lose Sight Of Basic Values. For Example, There Was Lots Of Nonsense Said And Written About The So-called "new Economy." Some People Said All Economic Laws Have Been Overturned! Then All The Problems Developed. Corporations Were Heavily Fined For Illegalities. Many Of Their Senior-level Executives Were Indicted, Convicted, And Sent To Prison.

-Rosabeth Moss Kanter

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During The Boom Years,

Rosabeth Moss Kanter

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During The Boom Years, It Was So Easy To Lose Sight Of Basic Values. For Example, There Was Lots Of Nonsense Said And Written About The So-called "new Economy." Some People Said All Economic Laws Have Been Overturned! Then All The Problems Developed. Corporations Were Heavily Fined For Illegalities. Many Of Their Senior-level Executives Were Indicted, Convicted, And Sent To Prison.

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Creativity Does Not Derive From Order But From The Attempt To Impose Order Where It Does Not Exist, To Make New Connections.

Everything Looks Like A Failure In The Middle.

The Commune Movement Is Part Of A Reawakening Of Belief In The Possibilities For Utopia That Existed In The Nineteenth Century And Exist Again Today, A Belief That By Creating The Right Social Institution, Human Satisfaction And Growth Can Be Achieved.

Power Is America's Last Dirty Word. It Is Easier To Talk About Money - And Much Easier To Talk About Sex - Than It Is To Talk About Power.

You Can Always Buy Something In English, You Can't Always Sell Something In English.

I Wonder Whether There Has Been Too Much Emphasis On Teaching Women To Conform, To Fit Into The System. Certainly That Suits Conservative Organizations In Conservative Times. But Now ... Innovation And Creativity Are Necessary.

Leaders Must Pick Causes They Won't Abandon Easily, Remain Committed Despite Setbacks, And Communicate Their Big Ideas Over And Over Again In Every Encounter.

Life Is Full Of Cycles That Have A Way Of Perpetuating Themselves. Success And Failure Both Feed On Themselves. Things Can Go Downhill Quickly, With People Bogged Down By Ineffective Behavior And Poor Teamwork, Unless Leaders Intervene To Shift The Cycle.

You've No Future Unless You Add Value, Create Projects.

Not Everyone In An Organization Is In A Position To Accumulate Power Through Competent Performance Because Most People Are Just Carrying Out The Ordinary And The Expected - Even If They Do It Very Well. The Extent To Which A Job Is Routinized Fails To Give An Advantage To Anyone Doing It Because 'success' Is Seen As Inherent In The Very Establishment Of The Position And The Organization Surrounding It. Neither Persons Nor Organizations Get 'credit' For Doing The Mandatory Or The Expected.

Our Future Will Be Shaped By The Assumptions We Make About Who We Are And What We Can Be.

I've Been Looking At Companies That Are On A Positive Path Vs. A Negative Path And I've Come To Use The Language Of Sports, Winning Streaks And Losing Streaks.

Lack Of Opportunity Breeds Dreams Of Escape. But Professionals And Managers Who Have Invested In Their Careers Do Not Leave The Work Force As Frequently As Discouraged Workers In Lower Status Occupations. Instead, They Keep Working, But They Escape Emotionally By Defining Achievement In Professional, Not Company, Terms. ... Thus, The Potential For Being Stuck As Career Uncertainty Grows Takes Its Toll In Weakening Attachment To Any Particular Employer.

It Is Easier To Talk About Money -- And Much Easier To Talk About Sex -- Than It Is To Talk About Power. People Who Have It Deny It; People Who Want It Do Not Want To Appear To Hunger For It; And People Who Engage In Its Machinations Do So Secretly.

If World Problems Feel Too Big To Tackle, Think Small. Step By Step. Small Wins Build Confidence, Lead The Way To Change.

Throughout Human History, People Have Developed Strong Loyalties To Traditions, Rituals, And Symbols. In The Most Effective Organizations, They Are Not Only Respected But Celebrated. It Is No Coincidence That The Most Highly Admired Corporations Are Also Among The Most Profitable. Why? Because Everyone Involved Is Committed To Certain Non-negotiable Core Values. Traditions Keep Them Alive. Rituals Such As Special Occasions Reaffirm Them. Symbols Serve As Constant Reminders Of Their Enduring Importance.

Even The New Feminist Research On Sex-role Socialization And Sex Differences Has Sometimes Had The Unfortunate Consequence Of Creating A New Set Of Stereotypes About What Women Feel And How Women Behave. Despite The Large Amount Of Overlap Between The Sexes In Most Research, The Tendency To Label And Polarize And Thus To Exaggerate Differences Remains In Much Reporting Of Data, Which May, For Example, Report The Mean Scores Of Male And Female Populations But Not The Degree Of Overlap.

One Of The Symptoms Of A Losing Streak Is A Turnover Of Top Executives. It's A Revolving Door.

Innovation Is An Outgrowth Of Initiative, And Initiative - Taking Positive Actions In A Belief That Your Actions Can Make A Difference - Is A Big Part Of Confidence.

Making A Difference

Pessimists See Problems As Stemming From Stable And Universal Causes, Thus Making Them Less Susceptible To Corrective Action. Optimists, In Contrast, View Problems As Temporary And Resulting From Specific Factors That Will Either Change Or Be Changed.

A Basic Truth Of Management - If Not Of Life - Is That Nearly Everything Looks Like A Failure In The Middle.

It Takes Courage To Speak Up Against Complacency And Injustice While Others Remain Silent. But That's What Leadership Is.

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Confidence Isn't Optimism Or Pessimism, And It's Not A Character Attribute. It's The Expectation Of A Positive Outcome.

Too Many People Let Others Stand In Their Way And Don't Go Back For One More Try.

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Winning Becomes Easier Over Time As The Cornerstones Of Confidence Become Habits.

I Was Determined To Achieve The Total Freedom That Our History Lessons Taught Us We Were Entitled To, No Matter What The Sacrifice.

Leaders Are More Powerful Role Models When They Learn Than When They Teach.

The Boomers' Biggest Impact Will Be On Eliminating The Term 'retirement' And Inventing A New Stage Of Life... The New Career Arc.

America Can Restore Its Strengths As The World-respected Land Of Opportunity By Returning To Open-society Principles. An Open Society Invests In People And New Ideas, Rewards Talent And Hard Work, Values Dialogue And Learns From Dissent, Operates To High Standards With Transparent Information, Looks For Common Ground, Sees Problems As Opportunities For Creative Change, And Encourages Those Who Are Fortunate To Help Others Get The Same Chance, Because Service Is The Highest Ideal. With Such Standards In Mind, America The Beautiful Can Return To Its Admired Role As America The Principled.

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Friendly People Are Caring People, Eager To Provide Encouragement And Support When Needed Most.

No" Is Always An Easier Stand Than "yes.

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Change Demands New Learning.

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Powerlessness Corrupts: Absolute Powerlessness Corrupts Absolutely.

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A Vision Is Not Just A Picture Of What Could Be; It Is An Appeal To Our Better Selves, A Call To Become Something More.

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The Best Way For Business To Move Out Of The Hall Of Shame Is To Demonstrate A Commitment To Social Causes. This Also Makes Business Sense. A Focus On Solving Social Problems Has Motivational Benefits In Lean Economic Times.

Embrace Change As An Opportunity To Learn, To Improve, To Make A Difference In Others' Lives As Well As In Your Own. Have The Courage To Challenge The Status Quo. Remember That Preparation And Ambition In Combination With Opportunity Equals Success. And Have Fun!

To Stay Ahead, You Must Have Your Next Idea Waiting In The Wings.

Leaders Is The New Organisation Do Not Lack Motivational Tools, But The Tools Are Different From Those Of Traditional Corporate Bureaucrats. The New Rewards Are Based Not On Status But On Contribution, And They Consist Not Of Regular Promotion And Automatic Pay Rises, But Of Excitement About The Mission And A Share Of The Glory Of Success.

The Middle Of Every Successful Project Looks Like A Disaster.

Mindless Habitual Behavior Is The Enemy Of Innovation.

Competition Has Never Been More Threatening Than It Is Now. Innovative Thinkers Challenge The Status Quo In Their Organizations. They Are Often Viewed As "troublemakers." They Threaten The Defenders Of The Status Quo. So Competition Within An Organization Can Also Be Brutal. The Most Effective Leaders Overcome "the Ideology Of Comfort And The Tyranny Of Custom" By Being Change Agents Themselves. They Encourage And Reward Innovative Thinking. I Have Observed That People Only Resist Changes Imposed On Them By Other People.

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During The Boom Years, It Was So Easy To Lose Sight Of Basic Values. For Example, There Was Lots Of Nonsense Said And Written About The So-called "new Economy." Some People Said All Economic Laws Have Been Overturned! Then All The Problems Developed. Corporations Were Heavily Fined For Illegalities. Many Of Their Senior-level Executives Were Indicted, Convicted, And Sent To Prison.

... People Are Capable Of More Than Their Organizational Positions Ever Give Them The Tools Or The Time Or The Opportunity To Demonstrate.

Corporate Men And Women, Once Divided By Striking Differences In Opportunity For Career Growth, Have Come To Share Career Chaos.

The Behavior Of People And The Culture Of An Organization Are Very Different In Winning Streaks And Losing Streaks. But What Both Have In Common Is Their Momentum - Once Winners' Or Losers' Habits And Culture Take Hold, They Tend To Perpetuate Themselves.

Change Is A Threat When Done To Me, But An Opportunity When Done By Me.

I've Found That Small Wins, Small Projects, Small Differences Often Make Huge Differences.

A Self-reinforcing Upward Spiral: Performance Stimulating Pride Stimulating Performance.

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Peter Drucker Being One Of The Most Important Influences Because He Has Helped To Think Differently About Organizational Leadership And Management. Frankly, I Learn Something Of Value From Everyone I Meet. My Harvard Colleagues. My Students. The Executives I Work With. For An Eager Student, Which Is What I Am, There Is So Much To Be Learned From Everyday Experiences. I'm A Sponge. Always Will Be.

Confidence Is Not Just In People's Heads; It Comes From The Culture Of The Organization. It's Easier To Expect Success When Working In An Organization That Has A Culture Of Accountability, Collaboration, And Initiative. Without This, It's Easier - And More Self-protective - To Assume Failure So The Person Is Not Disappointed And Instead Pleasantly Surprised.

Change Masters Are - Literally - The Right People In The Right Place At The Right Time. The Right People Are The Ones With The Ideas That Move Beyond The Organization's Established Practice, Ideas They Can Form Into Visions. The Right Places Are The Integrative Environments That Support Innovation, Encourage The Building Of Coalitions And Teams To Support And Implement Visions. The Right Times Are Those Moments In The Flow Of Organizational History When It Is Possible To Reconstruct Reality On The Basis On Accumulated Innovations To Shape A More Productive And Successful Future.

The Degree To Which The Opportunity To Use Power Effectively Is Granted To Or Withheld From Individuals Is One Operative Difference Between Those Companies Which Stagnate And Those Which Innovate.

The Positive Outlook That Optimists Project Does Not Come From Ignoring Or Denying Problems. Optimists Simply Assume That Problems Are Temporary And Can Be Solved, So Optimists Naturally Want More Information About Problems Because Then They Can Get To Work And Do Something. Pessimists Are More Likely To Believe That There Is Nothing They Can Do Anyway, So What's The Point Of Even Thinking About It?

Leadership Is One Of The Most Enduring, Universal Human Responsibilities.

Companies Used To Be Able To Function With Autocratic Bosses. We Don't Live In That World Anymore.

The Way Innovating Companies Are Designed Leaves Ambiguities, Overlaps, Decision Conflicts Or Decision Vacuums In Some Parts Of The Organisation. People Rail At This, Curse It-and Invent Innovative Ways To Overcome It.

The More Closed The Circle, The More Difficult It Is For 'outsiders' To Break In. Their Very Difficulty In Entering May Be Taken As A Sign Of Incompetence, A Sign That The Insiders Were Right To Close Their Ranks.

The Importance Of Discretion Increases With Closeness To The Top Of A Hierarchical Organization.

People Who Are Making Decisions About The Future Often Don't Have Access To Some Of The Best Ideas In The Company, Which May Be At The Periphery Or At Lower Levels.

The Martha Stewart Trial Makes Clear How Far Women Have Risen In The Business World. America Can Be Proud Of Our Equal-opportunity Prosecution And Conviction.

Those Enjoying Winning Streaks Thus Win Twofold. They Win Not Only The Game But Also The Right To Greater Self-determination. They Become Masters Of Their Own Fate. That Feeling Of Efficacy, Of Being In Charge Of Circumstances, Is The Essence Of Confidence. Winning Once Or Twice Is Encouraging, But Winning Continuously Is Empowering.

Power Stems From 'rainmaking,' As Law Firms Put It: The Ability To Bring Resources Into The Company.

Creativity Is A Lot Like Looking At The World Through A Kaleidoscope. You Look At A Set Of Elements, The Same Ones Everyone Else Sees, But Then Reassemble Those Floating Bits And Pieces Into An Enticing New Possibility.

The Difference Between "winners" And "losers" Is Not Whether They Face Obstacles And Setbacks - We All Do, And It Is Inevitable That Plans Do Not Unfold Exactly As Imagined Or That Unexpected Events Surprise Us Or That A Few Mistakes Happen. The Real Difference Is That "winners" Bounce Back From A Fumble Or A Loss By Refusing To Panic, Analyzing The Situation And Looking For Positive Actions They Can Take To Correct The Problem, And Then Go On To Resume Winning.

The Very Lack Of Opportunity The Group Faces Creates A Self-defeating Cycle And Puts Pressure On Members To Limit Their Aspirations.

Confidence Is Not Lodged In People's Brains, It Comes From The Support System That Surrounds Them. Let's Not Confuse Confidence Overall With Just Self-confidence. Self-confidence Is Only One Part Of Confidence. People Also Need Confidence In Others - Their Colleagues And Leaders - That They Can Count On Them To Do The Right Thing And Not To Let Them Down.

Sports Is A Perfect Activity In Which To See Streaks And Cycles, Organizational And Otherwise, In Action - And To Watch Confidence Build Or Erode. There Are Repeated Episodes Of Performance With Similar Rules And Clear Winners Or Losers. I Added Team Sports To My Studies Of Business Because There Are Excellent Parallels To Work Groups In The Performance Of Sports Teams And Also Excellent Parallels To Larger, More Complex Businesses Or Organizations In The Strategy, Structure, And Culture Surrounding Any Particular Team.

Confidence Makes You Willing To Try Harder And Attracts The Kind Of Support From Others That Makes "winning" Possible.

Perpetuating Success Or Sliding Into Decline Is The Result Of Many Intersecting Forces That Reinforce One Another Directly And Indirectly. They Are Both Cause And Effect Of Winning Or Losing. Winning Generates Positive Forces, Losing Generates Negative Forces.

Change Is Like Putting Lipstick On A Bulldog. The Bulldog's Appearance Hasn't Improved, But Now It's Really Angry.

Confidence Is The Bridge Connecting Expectations And Performance, Investment And Results.

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