Systems & Symptoms

by Mike Metzger & John Seel System thinking and its implications… The refusal of American colonials to buy British goods after the passage of the Stamp Act (1765) could be considered the first boycott. The practice didn’t receive its name until 1880, when English Captain Charles Cunningham Boycott’s ruthlessness in evicting Irish tenants, led his…

Systems & Symptoms

by Mike Metzger & John Seel System thinking and its implications… The refusal of American colonials to buy British goods after the passage of the Stamp Act (1765) could be considered the first boycott. The practice didn’t receive its name until 1880, when English Captain Charles Cunningham Boycott’s ruthlessness in evicting Irish tenants, led his…

Let's Get Frivolous

Frivolous spending is out in our current economic crisis. High-end restaurants are hurting. McDonalds is thriving. The government is capping excessive pay for top executives. Trips to the Bahamas are being scrapped (Citigroup instead paid its 1,900 Primerica Financial Services brokers a total of $5,000 each). Rahm Emmanuel said you never want a serious crisis…

Marxist Managers

Most business managers are Marxists. Not Karl Marx, but Harpo. In 1912, Harpo Marx was told his career was in jeopardy when he opened his mouth. So he performed as a mute for virtually the remainder of his professional life. This is often what managers do when they imagine using moral language at work. They…