NEWBURYPORT, Mass., Sept. 7, 2011 — "Life Sustaining Organizations: A Design Guide" by strategy consultants Michael Sales and Anika Ellison Savage demonstrates how organizations can benefit from new approaches to planning and leadership.
According to Sales and Savage, nearly everyone has experienced organizations that curb creativity, dull ambition and fall far short of the collective potential of its members. Such organizations have trouble keeping talented employees and are, therefore, ill-prepared to face the challenges of the future.
With this in mind, the authors apply structural dynamics — a methodology that integrates systems thinking, scenario planning, and design principles — to the challenge of attracting and retaining creative talent. Using a composite case as an example, Sales and Savage show how readers can engage their organizations in the discovery and exploration of possible, alternative futures relevant to their specific, big-decision issues and how to apply their knowledge to develop powerful, robust strategies for application across the range of future possibilities.
"This book lays out a strategic process that forward-thinking organizations can use to get ahead and stay ahead of the pack," Sales says. "Because it engages the analysis and imagination of a diverse set of participants, the structural dynamics process creates an ecology of leadership."
Intended to inform and challenge readers to self-analysis, the book features numerous charts, graphs and illustrations to support its conclusions. The book also discusses the concept of anticipatory leadership, a set of competencies needed to create an environment in which everyone in the workforce can function creatively and productively, even in the face of disruptive, turbulent conditions.
"Life Sustaining Organizations: A Design Guide" is available for sale online at Amazon.com and other channels.
About the Authors:
Michael Sales, an entrepreneur, executive coach, program designer, facilitator and educator, holds a doctoral degree in education from Harvard University. Anika Ellison Savage is an architect, corporate strategist, researcher and consultant with wide-ranging experience in technology, telecommunications and finance. Sales and Savage founded their consulting firm, Art of the Future, to promote new thinking about organizational vitality. "Life Sustaining Organizations" is the culmination of their individual and joint study of organizations over the course of 30 years.
According to Sales and Savage, nearly everyone has experienced organizations that curb creativity, dull ambition and fall far short of the collective potential of its members. Such organizations have trouble keeping talented employees and are, therefore, ill-prepared to face the challenges of the future.
With this in mind, the authors apply structural dynamics — a methodology that integrates systems thinking, scenario planning, and design principles — to the challenge of attracting and retaining creative talent. Using a composite case as an example, Sales and Savage show how readers can engage their organizations in the discovery and exploration of possible, alternative futures relevant to their specific, big-decision issues and how to apply their knowledge to develop powerful, robust strategies for application across the range of future possibilities.
"This book lays out a strategic process that forward-thinking organizations can use to get ahead and stay ahead of the pack," Sales says. "Because it engages the analysis and imagination of a diverse set of participants, the structural dynamics process creates an ecology of leadership."
Intended to inform and challenge readers to self-analysis, the book features numerous charts, graphs and illustrations to support its conclusions. The book also discusses the concept of anticipatory leadership, a set of competencies needed to create an environment in which everyone in the workforce can function creatively and productively, even in the face of disruptive, turbulent conditions.
"Life Sustaining Organizations: A Design Guide" is available for sale online at Amazon.com and other channels.
About the Authors:
Michael Sales, an entrepreneur, executive coach, program designer, facilitator and educator, holds a doctoral degree in education from Harvard University. Anika Ellison Savage is an architect, corporate strategist, researcher and consultant with wide-ranging experience in technology, telecommunications and finance. Sales and Savage founded their consulting firm, Art of the Future, to promote new thinking about organizational vitality. "Life Sustaining Organizations" is the culmination of their individual and joint study of organizations over the course of 30 years.
