LEVERAGE POINTS for a New Workplace, New World
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August 24, 2000 Issue 3

Welcome to LEVERAGE POINTS for a New Workplace, New World!
This e-bulletin, free from Pegasus Communications, delivers news and ideas to help you create both a thriving business and a rewarding workplace community. LEVERAGE POINTS spotlights evolutionary advances in leadership, change management, personal development, and organizational design. Every issue delivers nuggets of innovative thought, practical knowledge, and pointers to key resources in the field. Please forward LEVERAGE POINTS to your colleagues and friends!

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IN THIS ISSUE
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WORDS OF WISDOM
Albert Einstein, W. Timothy Gallwey

FROM THE FIELD
An Ounce of Prevention: Ford and 3M Seek to Balance
Short-Term Profits and Long-Term Problems

SHOP TALK
How can technology help--or hinder--the learning process?
and Readers' Thoughts About Stimulating Innovation

LEARNING LINKS
Emotional Intelligence: Fad or Fundamental Skillset?

NEW FROM PEGASUS
Register by September 8 for the Systems Thinking in Action
Conference and Save $200!

NOTABLE EVENTS
December 2-7, 2000. The International Conference on
Business and Consciousness, Acapulco, Mexico.

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WORDS OF WISDOM
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"The unleashed power of the atom has changed everything
save our modes of thinking, and we thus drift toward
unparalleled catastrophes."
--Albert Einstein

"Work begins and ends with desire."
--W. Timothy Gallwey, The Inner Game of Work
(Random House, 2000).

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FROM THE FIELD
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An Ounce of Prevention: Ford and 3M Seek to Balance Short-Term Profits and Long-Term Problems

In May, two major corporations made startling announcements that rocked the business world--and highlighted companies' growing awareness of the need to balance short-term profits with long-term environmental and corporate sustainability. William C. Ford, chairman of Ford Motor Company, acknowledged that sports utility vehicles--which account for more than 20 percent of the company's U.S. sales-- contribute more to global warming, emit more exhaust, and endanger other motorists more than standard cars. Ford said that the company would continue to make SUVs to fill consumer demand, but that it would seek ways to mitigate the environmental damage caused by the vehicles.

The following week, the 3M Company announced that it will voluntarily phase out many of its popular Scotchgard products. Company researchers found that a chemical used to protect fabrics, carpet, and leather from staining tends to accumulate in human and animal tissue. Over time, this chemical could potentially pose a health or environmental risk.

In each of these cases, corporate leaders emphasized the link between environmental and health issues and long-term profitability. Ford told reporters that he didn't want his company to appear to follow the cigarette companies' lead by continuing to manufacture a dangerous product. The enormous financial judgments levied by juries against tobacco companies may have served as an additional incentive for 3M and Ford to burnish their public images through these recent displays of corporate responsibility.

Sources: "Ford's SUV Shocker," Salon.com, May 13, 2000; "3M Agrees to Phase Out Some Scotchgard Products" by Cat Lazaroff, Environment News Service, May 17, 2000.

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SHOP TALK
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How can technology help--or hinder--the learning process?

Please take a minute to share your thoughts about this issue at the Leverage Points Discussion forum, part of our new online Community Bulletin Board. Go to http://www.pegasuscom.com/community.html and click on the Community Bulletin Board and Forums link. Selected comments will be shared in a future issue of LEVERAGE POINTS.

From Issue #2:
How does your organization stimulate innovation?

In most organizations, policies are set by management in hopes of achieving certain desired behavioral outcomes. Innovation is no exception. But what if the behavior is already baked into the system? What if human organizations are already predisposed to innovate? Policies in that case should be designed to support and reinforce existing behaviors of a desirable kind. Behavior then inspires policy-making as opposed to policy-making being used to drive behavior.
Mark W. McElroy

IMHO and experience, understanding the context and environment is crucial when trying to stimulate creativity and innovation.

a) For individuals: Understand their needs, e.g. using Maslow's hierarchy of needs. If personal aspiration is high, creativity and innovation become natural, especially if accompanied by coaching and training.

b) For teams or organizations: Understand the current reality, what forces and underlying structures are operating, and get the concerned parties to be in touch with that reality.

Next, connect the organization's realities with individuals' personal aspirations (or desperation/frustration?). Creativity and innovation, then, are the manifestation of inner transformation of self, releasing the latent energy within.
Andrew Wong

Readers who wish to continue this discussion are invited to go to our new bulletin board in the Community section of our Web site at http://www.pegasuscom.com/community.html. Just click on the Community Bulletin Board and Forums link.

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LINKS TO LEARNING
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Emotional Intelligence: Fad or Fundamental Skillset?
by Debra Duxbury and Virginia Anderson

We've all seen books, presentations, interviews, and conferences about Emotional Intelligence (EI). But is it a new domain that managers should pay attention to? Or is it another "buzz du jour" that will eventually fade into just so much noise?

In his best-selling book, Working with Emotional Intelligence (Bantam, 1998), Daniel Goleman defines EI as "the capacity for recognizing our own feelings and those of others, for motivating ourselves, and for managing emotions well in ourselves and in our relationships." Studies are beginning to document that not managing our own emotions can actually interfere with our cognitive intelligence. When we let ourselves get overwhelmed and stressed, our thinking becomes impaired. We then say and do things that can damage our own health and livelihood, our relationships with our coworkers, and ultimately our organization's bottom line.

The good news is that, with training and practice, EI can be learned. Practitioners are finding business applications for this work in numerous areas, including executive coaching, employee selection and retention, team building, and leadership development. Companies such as Motorola, American Express Financial Advisors, and Nichols Aluminum have found that emotions can be a vital--and profitable--resource if organizations fully leverage them.

EI has enormous potential to play a fundamental part in building long-term personal and organizational health. Certainly it takes intense effort and patience--but so does anything that has real value. Only time, inquiry, evaluation, and adaptation in light of new knowledge will prove the lasting power of EI.

Read the complete article.

Readers who wish to discuss this topic with the authors are invited to go to our new bulletin board in the Community section of our Web site at http://www.pegasuscom.com/community.html. Just click on the Community Bulletin Board and Forums link.

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NEW FROM PEGASUS
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Register by September 8 for the Systems Thinking in Action Conference and Save $200!
"If I attend one conference a year, it's this one."
--Paul Lotts, Change Process Leader, Shell EP International

The Systems Thinking in Action Conference, October 23-25, San Diego, CA
This October marks the 10th anniversary of the Systems Thinking in Action Conference, the premier international event in systems thinking and management innovation. Although other companies offer conferences on related topics, none provides the high-quality speakers, integrated learning opportunities, and networking and community-building support that are the hallmarks of the "STA Experience." For details about this special event, go to http://www.pegasuscom.com/stapage.html.

Register by September 8 to receive $200.00 off the standard registration rate!

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NOTABLE EVENTS
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December 2-7, 2000. The International Conference on
Business and Consciousness, Acapulco, Mexico.

The 2000 International Conference on Business and Consciousness is the sixth in a series of conferences that began in 1995 as The International Conference on Spirituality in Business. Featured speakers include William Isaacs, author of Dialogue and the Art of Thinking Together; Rick Gutherie, former manager of the Team Learning Center at Ford Motor Company; and Alfredo Kofman, founder of Leading Learning Communities.

For more information, go to http://www.bizspirit.com,
mailto:message@nets.com, or call 505-474-0998.

For a complete calendar of events, go to
http://www.pegasuscom.com/calendar.html.

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FINDING PEGASUS
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