A NEW LEADERSHIP ETHOS

EMZINE PROFILER WORKSHOP REPORT

2010-06-23T12:44:00.000-07:00

Emzine Identifies UK PM

2010-05-12T13:45:00.000-07:00

Introduced in the book, A New Leadership Ethos, the Emzine theory again correctly predicted the election outcomes in this case the elections in the UK.

Note: Emzine correctly predicted the outcome of the 2008 US elections first.

In the Appendix of A New Leadership Ethos, the Emzine theory predicted that the Tories would provide a transformer-type leader and they did so in the shape of Prime Minister, David Cameron.

David Cameron not only led the Conservatives back into a broader political spectrum (away from the right and somewhat closer to the center).

Through the appointment of Nick Clegg and his coalition with the Lib Dems, he shows to be the transformer-type leader that Britain needs in this stage of its development.

In his acceptance speech, just before entering Downing street 10 for the first time as Prime Minister, PM Cameron encourages the people of the United Kingdom...

"Do not focus on your entitlements but on your responsibilities... Do not ask what the country owes you but what you can give to the country..."

His speech reminds of the acceptance speech of another transformer-type leader: J F Kennedy!

"Do not ask what the country can do for you but what you can do for the country..."

I believe Obama, another transformer-type leader uttered something similar in his speech.

Visit http://www.marcvandererve.org to glance through A NEW LEADERSHIP ETHOS and to find more about the Emzine theory.

Emzine Theory Predicts GM Leadership Change

2009-12-02T01:59:00.000-08:00

Eight months ago, I reported in this blog that, according to the Emzine Theory (and now also according to the iPhone App, Emzine Profiler), Fritz Henderson might not be the ideal candidate to replace Rick Wagoner as interim CEO of General Motors.

Today, Bloomberg.com reports that Henderson resigned: "after eight months on the job, directors concluded he hadn’t done enough to fix GM’s finances and culture..."

According to the Emzine Theory, a true transformer-type leader is what GM needs in its current stage of organizational development. A transformer-type leader is a leader that re-invents an organization by changing it literally from the inside out!

Today, the analysis has come true as much as other predictions inspired by the Emzine Theory, such as the break-up of ABN AMRO, the election of Barack Obama, the regime change in Toyota.

Other predictions made using the Emzine Theory are the break-up of GM, the possible break-up of General Electric, the break-up of North Korea, the election results in the UK, etc.

To learn about these predictions and the Emzine Theory, download a free eCopy of the book, A NEW LEADERSHIP ETHOS - The Ability to Predict, by clicking here.

WHAT I REPORTED EIGHT MONTHS AGO
Today, a protégé of Rick Wagoner, Fritz Henderson, takes over the reigns as interim CEO of General Motors after Wagoner was asked to resign by Obama's team.

After a confronter-type leader, GM needs a transformer-type leader. The question is not whether Henderson will fulfill the role of transformer (he has no option) but whether he has the right qualifications and character to be a transformer. In other words, is he the best man for the leadership job at GM?

Transformer-type leaders seek to re-invent and transform an organization from the previous state of organizational emergence (confrontation stage). Because transformations generally unfold from the inside out, they are generally concerned with internal potential. Transformers search for meaning, bring innovators together, and ensure the funding of promising new ideas. In search of a new organizational cycle, the role of a transformer-type leader is to spot and promote a new concept, a concept that serves as platform for (a new cycle of) growth. This might involve a business idea, a product, a technology, a process, a theory, or a way of life.

In view of the transformation that the automobile industry is going through, the need might not just be for more attractive cars and a more efficient organization but for a novel fuel-saving technology that gives GM a new lease on life and a firm lead over its competitors.

What are the chances that Henderson will outperform as transformer-type leader?

Here are some Pros and Cons.

PROS
- Approved new models that led to profitability of Latin America
- Helped revive Isuzu Motors
- Oversaw big boost of China sales

CONS
- Protégé of a confronter-type leader (Is Fritz a confronter too?)
- Once a certified accountant with PWC (A true renewal type?)
- Once CFO of GM (Wagoner was once GM's CFO!)

The Emergence of "Life Apps"

2009-11-29T11:19:00.000-08:00

iTunes, the biggest mobile App store so far, has more than 100,000 Apps on offer. In this multitude, only a few Apps stand out.

The majority of Apps are so-called “Game Apps”, endless variations of proven game themes. The remainder typically involves “Gadget Apps”, Apps that help you plan your travels, locate star systems, improve your personal finances and link to a network.

In November 2009, with the launch of Emzine Profiler (an iPhone App), a wholly new class of Apps emerged: “Life Apps”. Life Apps are designed to keep their users on course by providing an insight into the state of the evolving environment in which these users function.

Whereas statistics show that only a very few Game Apps and Gadget Apps are regularly used once they have been downloaded, Life Apps function as persistent and dynamic framework of reference throughout the user’s professional or personal life.

To fulfill such a role, Life Apps must be based on sound research. They remind of “expert systems” in that their assessment functionality often involves research that has been reduced to a compact set of rules that is used to enlighten the user.

Emzine Profiler, for example, is designed to improve the functioning and leadership of business and government professionals. It allows its users to identify and evaluate their innate role relative to (the state of) an organization or constituency. In other words, it includes functionality to assess organizations too.

The first Life App offers a compass-like device that depicts the user’s effect on an evolving organizational environment. The device might be used either to seek an organizational environment that benefits most from a user’s profile or to seek a profile that best serves an organizational environment.

Hence, the first Life App is not just instrumental as career coach. Both in the selection of the ultimate job environment and the ultimate candidate, it enlightens its users.

As Life App, Emzine Profiler also hinges on a (wholly new) theory, the so-called “Emzine theory”. This theory explains the development of organizations at the different levels of society and nature involving the selection of least-energy-consuming patterns of conduct.

The Emzine theory enables the user of the first Life App to identify both the current and future state of an organization including its problems, solutions and leadership. As such, the use of this Life App ranges from due-diligence to “future-diligence” questions.

Feedback received from early users suggests that Life Apps represent a class of Apps that should be taken seriously. An Australian consultant refers to such Apps as being “rich in interpretation” despite a “simple interface”.

Contrary to the price of the publications behind such Apps (in the above example, the book: A New Leadership Ethos – The Ability to Predict), the pricing of the first in the class of Life Apps (US$ 4.99) indicates that Life Apps are not just meant as tools for the elite.

Learn more about the first “Life App”, here: http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=333211418&mt=8

Meeting Desmond Tutu

2009-11-21T04:05:00.001-08:00

November 19 2009 was just one of those rare days, attending a 7:00 (am) Business Breakfast in the prestigious "Mount Nelson" in Cape Town, hoping to broaden my perspective away from my writing and listening to voices other than my own.

"The Arch", as Desmond Tutu is affectionately referred to, was the speaker that day, the man who invented the term: "Rainbow Nation".

As most of the attendees, I had followed the whereabouts of Desmond Tutu as he evolved from freedom fighter and Archbishop to chairman of the Truth & Reconciliation Commission and, finally, global leader on moral issues.

At the age of 78, Desmond Tutu showed again his remarkable energy, his sharp mind, his exquisite and subtle choice of words, his humor and, above all, his substantial ability to make society aware about its own strengths and weaknesses.

He showed what leadership is all about: "making societies and organizations acutely aware of their own emergence so they can improve on it".

What I did not know in advance was that "The Arch" would contribute to a turning point in my perspective of my own role in society.

As freedom activist, Tutu's focus was on liberating a people from a morbid perspective while relying on his serene sense of morality.

It was a true honor to give this formidable leader a copy of my book, A New Leadership Ethos, a book that proposes a new liberating perspective.

Now, my time as activist has come, liberating people from an unproven, morbid perspective while relying on the serene science of existence and morality that I unexpectedly unveiled.

I am most indebted, Arch!

iPhone App Takes On Jim Collins

2009-11-14T02:14:00.001-08:00

An unassuming 5-US-Dollar iPhone App takes on Jim Collins, a leading author on corporate excellence, and wins hands down.

Endorsement followed soon after the launch of Emzine Profiler, an iPhone App designed to improve the role and functioning of business and government professionals.

The App offers a two-step approach to identify and evaluate the profile of business and government professionals as well as the state of their organization or constituency.

A third step involves an analysis of the effect of these professionals on organizations.

In a way, Emzine Profiler builds on the findings by Jim Collins, a leading author on corporate excellence.

In two bestselling books, Collins first states that organizations can be “build to last” and that they can be managed from “good to great”.

Then, in a book published in 2009, nuanced by the findings of his research team, Collins explains “how the mighty may fall” and “why some organizations never give in”.

This “revelation” reminds of the findings by one of Collins’ predecessors, Rosabeth Kanter. In the early 1980s, Kanter identified the change-masters of her era to see some of her larger-than-life examples sadly fail and eventually disappear.

Involving the natural and social sciences, the theory behind Emzine Profiler explains why organizations can rarely be “build to last” but generally only be “grown to achieve”. Organizations have lifecycles that may differ in length yet traverse universal stages of growth, decline and, occasionally, renewal.

Anchored in chaos theory and thermodynamics, the so-called “Emzine theory” differs from Collin’s and Kanter’s epic reflections in that it goes straight to the behavioral guts of the miracle of organization to lay bare the determinants of success and demise.

Nonetheless, Emzine Profiler and the theory behind it respond to the hunch of Collins that corporate success depends on “key seats filled with the right people” by identifying and providing both the theoretical and practical means to accomplish this.

As such, Emzine Profiler goes beyond the findings of Collins and Kanter. Inspired by a new theory of organization, it renders diverse worlds of growth, decline and renewal each with its own problems, solutions and leadership needs.

Available in APP STORE. Click here to access store!

Culture: The Critical Element in M&A

2009-11-12T07:49:00.000-08:00

Abstract from LinkedIn discussion on 12 November 2009

(With permission of the authors)

In a LinkedIn discussion, Gregg Stocker, an International Management Consultant, Author & Speaker, observes:

As we make our way to the other side of the economic downturn and confidence in the future increases, M&A activity will most likely return as a common fixture in the world of business. As this occurs, people involved in the process will make decisions like they always have, by evaluating deals in terms of market capitalization, cash flow, EBITDA, goodwill, etc. Unfortunately, many will ignore a critical element that can ultimately make or break the merger: culture.

The topic that Gregg introduced resonated with my views to an extent that I responded:

Dear Gregg,

My research (see the two books below) indicates that "developmental elements" of organizational cultures distinctly change from one stage of organizational emergence to another. I identified at least four stages (each of which can be reduced to a distinct state of behavior-pattern-species development in the domain of chaos theory).

This explains why a positive due diligence (which is history-based) does not guarantee that a company will be successful in the future because it generally fails to identify the strategic ingredients, leadership and insight needed for the next stage of its emergence. Consequently, about 50% of the mergers, joint ventures and the like, do not live up to expectations or simply fail.

Another fundamental problem in M&A is that the perspectives of the financial benefits blind the views of the leadership. Fundamental differences in how two merging companies perceive problems and solutions may cause the acquiring company to reinforce solutions that do not make sense in the stage of development of the acquired company.

All of the above findings are incorporated in what I coined the "Emzine theory" (standing for "Existential Manifold Zine" or, phonetically "M-sein" theory).

To deal with this issue (and other issues), I derived from the Emzine theory an expert-system-like iPhone App, which helps in identifying the current and future state of organizational development and the type of leader that is required to ensure future success.

In other words, the App helps you do a "future diligence".

You'll learn more about this App and its application here: http://www.marcvandererve.org/images/PRESS_RELEASE_-_iPhone_App_for_Leaders.pdf

Download a free eCopy of the books that I referred to above here: http://www.marcvandererve.org/images/9780620377713_TXT.pdf http://www.emzine.org/ANLE-EMZINE-EDITION.pdf

All in all, having unveiled fundamental stages in how organizations and their cultures change when they develop, I fully share your observations!

NOTE: If you want to see how the discussion further evolved, click here!

2009-11-10T08:42:00.000-08:00

The next wave in how society improves its functioning?

Endorsement followed soon after the launch of Emzine Profiler, an iPhone App designed to improve the role and functioning of business and government professionals.

The App offers a two-step approach to identify and evaluate the profile of business and government professionals as well as the state of their organization or constituency.

A third step involves an analysis of the effect of these professionals on organizations.

The App does not really compare with the bulk of iPhone Apps, most of which are games or productivity-enhancing gimmicks (when it comes to organizations).

Based on solid research into organizational phenomena, the App’s potential to serve as personal guide to business and government professionals is substantial. Areas of application that come to mind vary from recruiting and career coaching to organizational problem solving.

Ironically, the pricing of the App (US$ 4.99) may encourage its adoption at multiple levels of society but at the cost of its image as a serious leadership-enhancing tool.

However, as the initial feedback suggests, one should not be mislead by the unassuming stance of this remarkable App for leaders.

I downloaded it last week and tried it out on a client. Yes, it works! I like it. Simple interface, rich in interpretation. Well done!

October 2009, Mark Jones, Australia

Available in APP STORE:
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=333211418&mt=8

The first true iPhone App for Leaders…

2009-08-20T11:31:00.000-07:00

EMZINE PROFILER
The next wave in how society improves its functioning

Improve your effectiveness as business professional, identify the right leaders, create winning teams and help your organization and community move forward.

Regardless of whether you work in business or government, create a better understanding of yourself, your colleagues and your organization.

Stay ahead of the pack by advancing your ability to predict the future priorities and leadership of both organizations and communities.

FEATURES
- Identify the profile and role of multiple leaders
- Identify the current and future state of multiple organizations
- Analyze the fit between leader(s) and organization
- Build your own database of leader-/organization-assessments
- Consult help texts, both introductory and practical

LINKS
Press Release
Introduction Website
Now available in App Store

The Future of North Korea

2009-05-28T03:10:00.000-07:00

Considering the failing health of Kim Jong-il, a change of North-Korean leadership is imminent. The stage of the country's emergence rather than the new leader will determine the leadership role.

With a substantial degree of accuracy, the "Emzine theory" (a new theory of organization and leadership) predicts the developments - i.e. the role of the new leader, the type of problems that he will face and the approach that he will follow.

North Korea arose from an environment that suffered from occupation by the Japanese and, subsequently, from the Korean War in the early 1950s.

Its first ruler, Kim II Sung, functioned as a "builder-type" leader who developed the principles of communism into a Stalin-like state ideology which he referred to as Juche ("joo-chay").

When the current ruler, Kim Jong-il, succeeded his father, he became a "grower-type" leader who expanded and fine-tuned the government apparatus and helped it develop pre-programmed responses (however unpredictable) to signals from within and without the North-Korean society.

Driven by the current stage of societal emergence, the next ruler will function as a "confronter-type" leader who will try purifying the North-Korean society by confronting complacency and ill-fated pre-programmed behavioral responses hoping to stem its declining economic growth.

As a "confronter-type leader", the next ruler will try turning around the internal perspective of the ruling class and make it more open to outside standards of success, such as those provided by the Chinese communist society.

Although the next ruler might succeed in optimizing the government apparatus - most likely by making it leaner and meaner, he will also sow the seeds for the internal breakup of the North-Korean society when the government's stranglehold of society necessarily slackens.

All in all, the next ruler will create a level playing field from which a new North-Korean societal concept might arise under yet another leader - the leader after the next.

During the process of societal emergence, the impact of sanctions is relatively modest. In fact, sanctions may indeed affect the speed of societal change although not always for the better.

LEARNING POINTS

Apart from the inevitable changes in leadership roles (that respond to the evolving challenges of an emerging society), the North-Korean example clearly shows how war-like conditions produced by external powers foster the rise of power structures that are out of step with the development of societies elsewhere. Similar examples of societies that got out of step this way are Iran, Afghanistan, Palestine and, in the future possibly also, Iraq.

A Transformer at GM?

2009-03-30T02:00:00.000-07:00

Today, a protégé of Rick Wagoner, Fritz Henderson, takes over the reigns as interim CEO of General Motors after Wagoner was asked to resign by Obama's team.

After a confronter-type leader, GM needs a transformer-type leader. The question is not whether Henderson will fulfill the role of transformer (he has no option) but whether he has the right qualifications and character to be a transformer. In other words, is he the best man for the leadership job at GM?

Transformer-type leaders seek to re-invent and transform an organization from the previous state of organizational emergence (confrontation stage). Because transformations generally unfold from the inside out, they are generally concerned with internal potential. Transformers search for meaning, bring innovators together, and ensure the funding of promising new ideas. In search of a new organizational cycle, the role of a transformer-type leader is to spot and promote a new concept, a concept that serves as platform for (a new cycle of) growth. This might involve a business idea, a product, a technology, a process, a theory, or a way of life.

In view of the transformation that the automobile industry is going through, the need might not just be for more attractive cars and a more effecient organization but for a novel fuel-saving technology that gives GM a new lease on life and a firm lead over its competitors.

What are the chances that Henderson will outperform as transformer-type leader?

Here are some Pros and Cons.

PROS

Approved new models that led to profitibility of Latin America
Helped revive Isuzu Motors
Oversaw big boost of China sales

CONS

Protégé of a confronter-type leader (Is Fritz a confronter too?)
Once a certified accountant with PWC (A true renewal type?)
Once CFO of GM (Wagoner was once GM's CFO!)

Looking forward to receiving your comments on the above!

Anticipating Share Prices

2009-03-10T00:22:00.000-07:00

An unprecedented opportunity to boost the accuracy of share-price projections?

This question arises when linking the emergence and features of corporate organizations - in successive stages of their development - to the development of their share price.

The events unfolding in companies, such as ABN AMRO and General Electric, prove that companies and their organizations progress along inevitable stages of growth of which the behavioral features are remarkably consistent across different organizations.

Share prices grow in so-called build- and growth-stages and decline throughout a confrontation stage. They are undetermined in a transformation stage, that is, if and when a company does not break up or implode but manages to re-invent itself.

Because the share price is a reflection of the expected growth potential of a company, the behavioral features of evolving organizations in each stage also hint at the evolution of a company's share price.

As a result, stock analysts can improve the consistency and accuracy of their predictions through an evaluation of a company's behavioral features and leadership.

Note: In addition, the phenomenon of the "Elliott wave" can be much better explained and identified.

Return of the Yoda

2009-01-03T05:30:00.001-08:00

December 24 (2008), Business Week reports that Akio Toyoda (the grandson of Toyota's founder - Kiichiro Toyoda) is likely to take over from Toyota's current President, Katsuaki Watanabe. If the 'Yoda' (coined as such by the author of this blog post) is appointed, he would be the first executive from the founding family to lead since 1995. Whatever the reason for his appointment, Akio Toyoda's task will be to deal with Toyota's slumping worldwide auto sales, high material cost and deteriorating profits. The 'Yoda' will be a confronter-type leader who will shake up and purify Toyota's organization.

Toyota has been the envy of automobile manufacturers across the world. Its success in managing a complex business with a minimal hierarchy and its reputation as manufacturer of some of the most reliable and durable cars of the world have both been admired and despised. Year after year, mammoth corporations, such as General Motors and Ford, have seen their market share in the United States shrink. The question is whether Toyota will continue to lead as it did so far. In agreement with the forecasted state of Toyota’s development in a NEW LEADERSHIP ETHOS (see below), recent events indicate that this might not be the case. Consumer and press reports show cracks in Toyota's armor when it comes to quality. What's more, March 2009, Toyota is likely to announce its first-ever annual loss.

So far, the focus of Toyota has been on perfecting its operations to repeat success more and more efficiently. Its inward-looking orientation has produced highly effective operational responses, an ability to deal with volume manufacturing, and a remarkable capacity to sustain the quality of its automobiles. The organization of Toyota reflects the inclination and interests of its President and CEO, Katsuaki Watanabe, who joined the company 44 years ago. A grower-type leader, Watanabe started in corporate planning and administrative affairs. In 1992, as new member of the board, ‘he continued to supervise work in production control, including supervising Toyota’s Motomachi Plant.’ Some years later, Toyota would assemble its fuel-efficient hybrid car, the Prius, in this plant. The Prius was developed under the watch of Toyota’s previous CEO, Fujio Chō. Whereas Chō was a builder-type leader who nurtured niches (hybrid vehicles), Watanabe is a grower-type leader whose focus has historically been on predictability and control (both are crucial when trying to repeat success ever more efficiently).

Considering the issues that Toyota is facing, the assessment of its current and future state in A NEW LEADERSHIP ETHOS is fully in line with recent developments. According to the 4-state cycle of organizational emergence (the fundamental background of which is explained in A NEW LEADERSHIP ETHOS), Toyota’s growth was likely to decline. Its repertoire of pre-programmed responses, which served the company well so far, will prevent it from producing adequate responses, especially when the market conditions are changing. Caught in a web of its own making, Toyota faces complacency. Yet, this is an unavoidable state of organizational emergence that might result in the re-birth of Toyota in subsequent states. Within the next 5 years, a new confronter-type leader (probably the 'Yoda') will emerge who will challenge and purify the organization. By making Toyota open and outward looking again, this leader will create a level playing field from which new initiatives and ideas can rise under a subsequent leader (see diagram).

The Automobile Blame Game

2009-01-01T08:52:00.000-08:00

It is just a little too easy to blame the current leadership of American automobile manufacturers for the misery that their corporations are experiencing. These corporations are evolving as other organizations do and have attracted the leaders that were needed to succeed in a particular stage of their emergence. 'Leaders help an organization deal with the challenges related to its own emergence effectively by awakening and sustaining its self-awareness.' It is not the leader but the organization that needs to be ready. According to A NEW LEADERSHIP ETHOS, when it comes to GM, the current leader, Rick Wagoner, is not the leader that will re-invent and transform the company but he has been the leader that confronted complacency (both inside the company and the unions). By streamlining the company, he helped create a new level playing field from which a new company may arise under another leader, that is, if the company does not implode or disintegrate at its natural developmental breakpoint - something that will be determined by the state of the market environment. Organizations are visible residues of repeated behavior patterns, behavior patterns of employees that evolve through four universal states of organizational emergence. In each state, an organization attracts the type of leader it needs. Once GM's chief financial officer, Rick Wagoner was perfectly fit for the job as confronter-type leader. If GM gets another chance, Wagoner will leave the company to a successor, a transformer-type leader, who will help the organization identify and establish a new platform for corporate growth. It is not the leader, stupid, but the organization!

The Obama-Lincoln Link

2008-12-31T02:12:00.000-08:00

Based on her best-selling book about Lincoln, the historian, Doris Kearns, sees lessons in the similarities between Lincoln and Obama. Kearns provides additional evidence in support of the analysis in A NEW LEADERSHIP ETHOS. The latter identifies both Lincoln and the successor of George W Bush as transformer-type US Presidents. The analysis in A NEW LEADERSHIP ETHOS is rooted in a new and fundamental understanding of the emergence of organizational phenomena - including nations. Transformer-type US Presidents transform the nation by a new wave of thinking, a wave that sets off a new cycle of growth (Lincoln ended the civil war and achieved truly United States). Transformer-type US Presidents also go beyond tradition, yet in a way that benefits the nation (Lincoln rejected slavery). Transformers are charismatic because, without charisma, they would not succeed in getting their message of change across (Lincoln was a gifted orator and superb communicator). Transformers do not achieve success easily. They often make several attempts before realizing a breakthrough (after appointing several generals only Ulysses S. Grant helped Lincoln end the civil war). The independent view that distinguishes transformer-type leaders is usually rooted in a rather unconventional career (Lincoln was a self-made lawyer who received just 18 months of formal education). Nine months ahead of the 2008 US elections, A NEW LEADERSHIP ETHOS identified senator Obama as the candidate whose profile best fits that of a transformer-type leader. Indeed, the link between Obama and Lincoln is without question. They both are transformer-type leaders. That both Lincoln and Obama come from Illinois is irrelevant. Lincoln made an additional observation which concerns the election of heads of government. 'I claim not to have controlled the events, but confess plainly that events have controlled me.' This means that the events (and thus the nation) determines what type of leader it needs depending on the state of its emergence (see diagram).

How Leaders Benefit

2008-12-31T00:41:00.000-08:00

A migrating bird that flies in V-formation benefits from the low pressure area behind the wing of the bird that flies ahead of it - a phenomenon that is called 'slipstreaming'. Energy savings ranging from 12% to 20% can be realized by flying in V-formation. A flock is a visible residue of the simultaneous and congruent (= harmonious) behavior of migrating birds that fly inside the behavioral space vacated by others that are moving in sync. These migration phenomena emerge spontaneously when a certain day-time inequality arises between the current and destiny location. Recent research also indicated that not only the followers in a flock benefit from slipstream effects. The leader of a flock experiences 'inverted slipstreaming', a phenomenon that involves energy savings generated by the flock as a whole. Human organizations are not unlike flocks. They are visible residues of the simultaneous and congruent (= harmonious) behavior of people inside the behavioral space vacated or created by others that are moving in sync. In the same way as people in an organization benefit from the slipstream of the person 'ahead', leaders of human organizations benefit from the 'inverted slipstream' generated by their organization as a whole.

Rocks Are Organizations Too

2008-12-30T23:59:00.000-08:00

Rocks are not unlike organizations. Their features emerge as residues of the evolution of the underlying behavior patterns of atoms. In the same way as the structure or organization of a snowflake is determined by the behavior patterns of the frozen water molecules of which it is made up (patterns that emerge as a result of a certain temperature inequality), the crystalline structure of rocks is determined by the behavior patterns of atoms that emerge at certain temperature and chemical inequalities. Also human organziations are residues of behavior patterns, behavior patterns of people in different roles that emerge to deal with certain (market) inequalities. No minerals existed at the time of the early universe. By now, research has shown that the evolution of cascading behavior patterns (involving atoms) has produced nearly 4000 different mineral residues. On the whole, both physical and social phenomena of organization can be explained by the same theory of evolving behavior-pattern species - the so-called Emzine Theory.

Collapse of Zimbabwe

2008-12-05T02:18:00.000-08:00

December 5 (2008), The Times of South Africa quotes an unnamed South African official on the gravely deteriorating situation in Zimbabwe. "Mugabe has lost complete control, it's just a matter of time before the country implodes."

This statement is not surprising according to the projection of the political leadership in Zimbabwe based on the Emzine Theory in A NEW LEADERSHIP ETHOS. In the diagram above, you’ll find the leadership roles of the last president of Rhodesia and the first of Zimbabwe. Both of these leaders are not really viewed positively in the West.

A grower-type leader, Ian Smith presided over a modest boom in the early 1970s, a strong rule of law, and remarkably high levels of literacy. After 1975, the Rhodesian economy weakened as a result of the effect of international sanctions which helped break the back of Smith’s white minority rule.

Elected as first president of Zimbabwe in 1980, Robert Mugabe, a confronter-type leader, has undone many of the things that had been established by his predecessor. Early 2008, the evidence suggests that Mugabe (after 28 years in power) will eventually leave a nation and economy that, in many respects, has fallen apart.

Zimbabwe’s next leader will be a transformer-type leader who will get the formidable task of reinventing the nation.

Historic Breakthrough

2008-11-04T01:51:00.000-08:00

Nine months ahead of the election at the debut of the primaries, A NEW LEADERSHIP ETHOS predicted (based on leading-edge organizational theory) not only that the next US President would be a transformer-type leader but also that Barack Obama would fit that profile best. So, now that Barack Obama made history, A NEW LEADERSHIP ETHOS made science and sense of leadership cycles. Western society is on the brink of a fundamental breakthrough, a breakthrough that will change the common perspective of leadership, science, and religion.

The Ability To Predict

2008-08-27T05:19:00.000-07:00

Early 2008, at the debut of the US primaries, I predicted that the 44th US President would be a ‘transformer,’ a leader with the same stature and charisma as earlier transformers, such as Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, and Ronald Reagan. Senator Barack Obama seemed to fit that profile best. In 2003, I predicted the possibility of a major European banking firm breaking up, which it did in 2007. I also foresaw General Electric breaking up or reinventing itself and the evidence so far has been remarkably consistent with my forecast. I assure you, magic played no part in my predictions. Rather, my ‘prophecies’ hinged on a novel understanding of how ‘forms of organization’ develop in nature and society. In this book, I explain how you can make such predictions too and how this pristine ability will change the ethos of leadership.

From the conclusions in this book, Western society arises as a world that is about to go through a fundamental transformation, a makeover that will affect the established thinking in political, scientific, and, even, religious circles. For one, the US President-elect who will take over the reins in 2009 will be a transformer. His task will be to identify a new platform for growth, a task that might involve in part reinventing the American community. The United Kingdom faces a similar fate under its next (Tory) prime minister (see Appendix). The world of theoretical physics is also going through a radical rethink now that transformer-type scientists are trusting their ideas to paper. Even, the religious dimension of Western society will be changing as it appears to have arrived at a stage of development that is not unlike the state from which it emerged in the distant past. The bottom line of the conclusions is that society and everything in it are not just objects that need change when things no longer work. Rather, they are observable manifestations of reproducing, constantly interacting and evolving behavior patterns, patterns that influence one another across multiple timescales. The ‘stillness’ of the things that we observe is simply false. This unconventional interpretation of organizational phenomena represents a transformation by itself, a transformation in the field of organization and leadership.

Download a free electronic version of the book, A NEW LEADERSHIP ETHOS, or buy a hard clopy at: http://www.marcvandererve.org/

Add your comments to this Blog Post below.