Assorted Epitomes

What follows are additional titles of works Brad has epitomized.  These titles do not fit into any of the other categories of this website, and so are offered for reference purposes for the interested few.

Peter Block, Stewardship.  We seek organizations that accomplish their purposes.  Block uses the term “stewardship” as an umbrella for series of ideas:  service over self-interest, balance of power, commitment to the community at large, participation by all, and redistribution of wealth and privileges.  Where these elements are lacking, real service is missing.  READ MORE.

Allison Taylor, The Handbook of Family Dispute Resolution.  Families are relational systems, sometimes in need of assistance to change from patterns that do not fit one or more members to more functional patterns.  Family systems:  1) need stability without losing ability to change, 2) develop over time, 3) must be open enough to admit ideas leading to change, but closed enough to prevent loss of identity, 4) create a sense of belonging without stifling individuality, 5) communicate between members by word and deed (one cannot not behave or communicate, any communication’s meaning is individually interpreted, and every communication has a context, 6) comprise subsystems (dyads and triads).  Any change changes the family system.  READ MORE. 

Fried and Hansson, Rework. 1. Ignore the “real” world.  “Be realistic” is what people stuck in their own dysfunction say.  2. Admit that planning is guessing about the future based on the past.  Don’t cling to plans; the future is not the past.  Your guesses are unreliable.  3. Choose a size; grow to that size; stay there.  Growth without boundaries may destroy your efforts. 4.  Work sustainably.  Overwork creates burn-out, which endangers your efforts.  Hire people with lives outside work.  Send them home at five.  READ MORE.