A common way of solving problems-at home, at work, in our communities, in national and international affairs-is to use our expertise and authority to apply piece-by-piece, tried-and-true "best practices." This can work for simple, familiar problems. But it may not work for the complex, unfamiliar, conflictual problems that we increasingly face. When we try to solve these problems using traditional approaches, the problems end up either getting stuck or getting unstuck only by force. We need to learn another way.
Adam Kahane has worked on some of the toughest, most complex problems in the world. Through an unexpected experience in South Africa during the transition away from apartheid, he became involved in facilitating a series of extraordinary high-conflict, high-stakes problem-solving efforts: in Colombia during the civil war; in Argentina during the collapse; in Guatemala after the genocide; and in Israel, Northern Ireland , Cyprus, and the Basque Country. Through these experiences, he learned to create environments that enable new ideas and creative solutions to emerge-even in the most stuck, polarized contexts. Here, Kahane tells his stories and distils from them a "simple, but not easy" approach all of us can use to solve our own toughest problems.
Drawing upon examples from families, governments, corporations, and non-profits, Kahane explores the connection between individual learning and institutional change, and shows how to move beyond debate and defensiveness toward deeper and more productive dialogue. Engaging and inspiring, personal and practical, this book offers a down-to-earth, hopeful way forward: a way of "open-minded, open-hearted, open-willed talking and listening" vital for creating lasting change
Mindfulness: Developing the ability to pause before we react: Daniel Siegel Happiness Conference, Sydney 2009 Daniel J. Siegel is one of the leading researchers and authors in the areas of Neuroscience. This book offers a practical insight into what it means to live in the here and now, to be fully present in the moment - to be mindfully aware. In the Mindful Brain, Siegel describes mindfulness practices and demonstrates how developing these skills can enrich our lives. If you are working with others to help improve the quality of... More info
The world is full of problems and conflicts. So why can we not solve them? According to Edward de Bono, world thinking cannot solve world problems because world thinking is itself the problem. And this is getting worse: we are so accustomed to readily available information online that we search immediately for the answers rather than thinking about them. Our minds function like trying to drive a car using only one wheel. There's nothing wrong with that one wheel - conventional thinking - but we could all get... More info
Meetings are a crucial part of all our lives, but too often they go nowhere and waste valuable time. In "Six Thinking Hats", Edward de Bono shows how meetings can be transformed to produce quick, decisive results every time. The Six Hats method is a devastatingly simple technique based on the brain's different modes of thinking. The intelligence, experience and information of everyone is harnessed to reach the right conclusions quickly. These principles fundamentally change the way you work and interact. They have been adopted by businesses and governments... More info
