By: Jennifer Dean-Hill on October 24, 2017
When there is a decline of an organization, the participants or customers wrestle with how to respond: do they exit by walking away from the organization, talk by voicing their opposition and concerns to the leadership, or remain loyal to the organization in hopes of improvements? Although Hirschman gives a thorough, intellectual explanation of each…
By: Stu Cocanougher on October 24, 2017
The handwriting is on the wall. Actually, it’s not handwriting that adorns the walls of many churches, but a wooden plaque with removable numbers that indicate the church’s attendance and offering receipts. For many churches, that information has migrated from the plaque on the wall to a spot in the church bulletin. Either…
By: Chip Stapleton on October 20, 2017
What does leadership really look like? That is, in essence, the question that just about every book on leadership asks and then, in turn, seeks to answer. Milton Friedman’s opus, Failure of Nerve: Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix, in that sense, is not such an unusual entry into the voluminous category of ‘leadership’…
By: Kristin Hamilton on October 19, 2017
Edwin Friedman’s theories about family systems changed my life. In my MDiv program we read Generation to Generation in one class, followed by Failure of Nerve a year later. These two books opened my eyes and gave me the courage to make some very important changes in my life, including where I lived, how I…
By: Christal Jenkins Tanks on October 19, 2017
As I began to read his book, my curiosity grew as to who was Edwin H. Friedman. I asked myself “why was his input on the subject matter of leadership and family seen as important?” In searching the web for information, I stumbled upon his obituary in the Washington Post dated November 7th, 1996 entitled…
By: Stu Cocanougher on October 19, 2017
“Leadership is essentially an emotional process rather than a cognitive phenomenon.” (Friedman p. 14) Edwin H. Friedman was a rabbi, a family counselor, and leadership consultant, who was best known for his 1985 book Generation to Generation which applied the concept of “family systems theory” to churches and synagogues. In his follow-up book, A…
By: Mary Walker on October 19, 2017
Edwin H. Friedman lamented the fact that leaders were not more decisive. He said that “leadership in America is stuck in the rut of trying harder and harder without obtaining significantly new results.”[1] Why? Leaders experience ‘paralysis’ because of their inadequate concept of the ‘social science construction of reality’. Their construction does not explain the…
By: Katy Drage Lines on October 19, 2017
I remember my mom often saying to my siblings and me, especially when we were teenagers, “the only thing you can control is your attitude.” By this, she meant that sometimes circumstances or events occur that we have no control over; we only have the power to shape how we respond to them—our attitude. As…
By: Jennifer Dean-Hill on October 19, 2017
To develop a strong sense of self while still being a part of a community, and fostering a sense of togetherness is the challenging goal of a self-differentiated leader. Friedman maintains that if one wants to be a bold effective leader, self-differentiation is required, and without this, they are at risk of being ineffective leaders…
By: Lynda Gittens on October 18, 2017
Books on leadership usually focus on how to be an effective leader through guidance and direction. They will share skills and techniques to help you become successful. There are leadership books that help you with time management. For example, the Leadership an Art by DePree stated “The first responsibility of a leader is to define…
By: Jim Sabella on October 17, 2017
I found Failure of Nerve a refreshing and challenging book, packed full of what I would consider wisdom on being a leader at a time were strong leadership seems to be giving way to a “softer” form where everyone gets a trophy regardless of the outcome. It goes without saying that few if any appreciate a…
By: Chip Stapleton on October 13, 2017
Everyone comes at the question in their own way, with different assumptions and with different motivations for seeking out the knowledge, but eventually almost all of us humans will end up wrestling with the question of meaning in our lives: ‘Why am I here?’; ‘What is my purpose?’; ‘What really matters?’; etc. And when we…
By: Kristin Hamilton on October 12, 2017
Yuval Noah Harari’s Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind is what I like to call a Very Important Book™ (VIB). To understand what gives Sapiens its VIB status, one must look carefully at the presentation of material. First, pick up the book – feel the weight of it, so different from other books of the…
By: Lynda Gittens on October 12, 2017
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4EIODEpYXE I have intentionally utilized by senses to not indulge in the readings of evolution or other theories outside my belief of God’s creation. I didn’t want to be swayed from eternal life. This book was a school requirement that again challenged me to read other views. Author Herari begins his history timeline at 13.5…
By: Stu Cocanougher on October 12, 2017
Who am I? Where did I come from? Where am I going? These are questions that Philosophy, Theology, and Science all seek to answer. The book Sapiens, by Israeli historian Yuval Noah Harari, is a detailed attempt at providing answers to these ultimate questions via the discipline of Anthropology. Harari’s popular book claims that 6…
By: Christal Jenkins Tanks on October 12, 2017
There are three discussion topics that will surely invoke a lively conversation at your next family dinner: religion, politics and the book Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari. Over the course of our learning in this program we have read other authors who have graveled with the most known historical narratives…
By: Katy Drage Lines on October 12, 2017
“Raise a glass to freedom, something they can never take away, no matter what they tell you. Raise a glass to the four of us, tomorrow they’ll be more of us, telling the story of tonight.” So sing four idealistic founders of America. Who is it that gets to tell our story? In many ways,…
By: Jennifer Dean-Hill on October 11, 2017
The origin of humans has been a highly debated topic. But since none of us were there when humans were formed, no one can confidently describe how we came to be. Were we created? Did we evolve? Did we evolve after creation? As a creationist, I find it comforting to consider myself created in the…
By: Mary Walker on October 11, 2017
Just as people were never created, neither, according to the science of biology, is there a ‘Creator’ who ‘endows’ them with anything. There is only a blind evolutionary process, devoid of any purpose, leading to the birth of individuals.”[1] It is far better to grasp the universe as it really is than to persist in…
By: Jim Sabella on October 11, 2017
Some who argue from a Christian perspective in opposition to A Brief History of Humankind, focus on chapter 12 because it deals with religion and how in Harari’s analysis man created religion to “legitimise widespread social and political orders…” [210] Though I do not agree with Harari’s evolutionary position nor his analysis concerning religion, he…
