By: Greg on November 8, 2018
Moving to a new city there are patterns, unknown rules, and often times one will over step without knowing so. Trying to be culturally sensitive in this new city, we thought we would simply bring interested students to the local Three-Self Patriotic Movement (Government Christian Church). We were told this was legal and it was…
By: Shawn Hart on November 8, 2018
As I worked my way through Edwin Friedman’s book, “A Failure of Nerve,” I kept finding myself conflicted by its content; which apparently, based on some of the reviews I found, I was not the only one. On one hand, Greg Wiens found the work to be, “especially relevant today as leader after respected leader…
By: Jean Ollis on November 8, 2018
Reader alert – my content and statements are strong and emotional. Please understand it is not my intention to offend, but rather to challenge and demonstrate NERVE. I originally planned to compose my blog on the brilliance and relevance of Edwin Friedman’s book Failure of Nerve. Dr. Clark even mentioned this text as one of…
By: Jake Dean-Hill on November 8, 2018
Edwin Friedman is a guy I resonate with, he is ordained, a family therapist and a leadership consultant, all of which I am as well. His book, A Failure of Nerve: Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix, outlining his leadership philosophy, obviously resonated with me as well. His approach to leadership flies in…
By: Digby Wilkinson on November 8, 2018
Sociology, like economics, has many theoretical strands that attempt to understand and articulate a view of the world from which social construction models can be created. Like economics, few of those strands strands see eye to eye. It is these multi-dimensional ways of seeing human society that motivated Elliot, and erudite sociologists like him, to…
By: Rev Jacob Bolton on November 8, 2018
“We live in a world of radical change: do you agree?”[i] Elliott poignantly concludes his “Further questions” section of the opening introduction to his seminal work Contemporary Social Theory: An Introduction with this question. What better group to be asked this than a group of church people studying leadership? Because if there is any place…
By: Jay Forseth on November 8, 2018
No book from our LGP program has garnered more highlights on my Kindle reader than Edwin Friedman’s Failure of Nerve: Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix. If our books were rated by the number of times that I used my Kindle highlighter tool, then this one is a standout winner. Perhaps no book in…
By: Jenn Burnett on November 8, 2018
Remembrance Day is just a few days off. The melancholy that permeates this day is usually undergirded by the dark and growing bareness of Canadian mid-November weather in a predictable, almost divinely scripted, pathetic fallacy. As a youngster, I often stood in the cold and rain, in my girl guide uniform, thinking about my grandparents…
By: Jason Turbeville on November 8, 2018
As I started reading A Failure of Nerve: Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix by Edwin Friedman I said to myself, even if you do not like this book you have to find something about it you can connect with, after all Dr. Clark really likes this book. That being said I had no…
By: Tammy Dunahoo on November 8, 2018
Reading Elliott’s Contemporary Social Theory: An Introduction and events of this week have left me in a melancholic state. I had a sense of sadness hearing the creatures who do not seem to know their Creator draw from every concept imaginable to define life on this planet. As I write this blog I have just…
By: Mike on November 8, 2018
Rabbi Edwin Friedman’s Failure of Nerve is a leader’s guide on how to do leadership by focusing on the principles of maturity, stamina, and responsibility. I connected with the author’s implied question, do you have nerve enough to lead others in today’s fast paced, data overloaded, and chaotically challenged workplace environments that are looking for…
By: Mark Petersen on November 8, 2018
Let’s begin with some background music to set the stage for this blog post. Start the music, and continue reading… You’re now listening to a familiar tune called ‘Take Five’.[1] Catchy, isn’t it? If you’re not a musician, you might have a hard time putting your finger on what makes this song so alluring. Music…
By: Colleen Batchelder on November 8, 2018
A Failure of Nerve: Leadership is the Age of the Quick Fix delves into the varied familial constructs and expectations that influence leadership strategy and execution. Rabbi Edwin H. Friedman, organizational consultant, family therapist and community relations specialist [1], dares us to look beneath the surface and question our own biases – He dares us…
By: Harry Edwards on November 8, 2018
Constructivism, deconstructionism, structuralism, poststructuralism, modernity, modernism, postmodernism, postmodernity, etc. are useful methodologies that help our understanding of human nature and the way they situate themselves in the world. Habermas, Heidegger, Foucault, Derrida, Rorty are some of the familiar names who dominate these fields of knowledge. While studying some of these experts in the book Profiles…
By: Rhonda Davis on November 8, 2018
The University I work for is only 25 years old, but the last six years have been especially interesting. With an aging founder and new partnerships in Dallas-Fort Worth, the main campus relocated from California to Texas, which led to high staff turnover. Enrollment has increased and decreased…retention has decreased and increased. New programs have…
By: Dave Watermulder on November 8, 2018
As I was sitting at my desk reading through Edwin Friedman’s book, A Failure of Nerve: Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix, I got a phone call from a young mom in our church. She was calling in distress, wondering what to do. The small group that she is a part of is…
By: Andrea Lathrop on November 8, 2018
Anthony Elliot’s Contemporary Social Theory: An Introduction[1]is fascinating and overwhelming all at the same time for me. To consider the amount of effort exerted to define the word ‘society’, let alone all the theories underneath it, is mind-boggling. Humans have been attempting to make sense of our world for a long time. I was…
By: Harry Fritzenschaft on November 8, 2018
Elliott provides an overview of the recent sociological theories. The core of these theories is the nature of society. The author aims to introduce his readers to the challenging perspectives, and the resultant innovations of contemporary social processes.[1] Elliott organizes his work around several themes. The first theme concerns the relation of the individual and…
By: Sean Dean on November 8, 2018
As my wife and I were preparing for our home study to be licensed to adopt, one of the tasks we needed to complete was a cultural plan. Essentially this is a document detailing how, if we were to be placed with a child of a different culture than ours, we would keep that child…
By: Jennifer Williamson on November 8, 2018
I first read Friedman’s A Failure of Nerve during my Master’s program, and it was a book that revolutionized my life. In fact, I would not be exaggerating to say that applying the wisdom that Friedman shares may have saved my relationship with my son. As he launched into his university years, I learned about…
