Ethonomics

Ethonomics is a word that will that spread, so don't be freaked out by it. Most recently used by Fast Company magazine to mean a hybrid of technology, design, and social responsibility that is about ethics in the marketplace. Progressively the concept of the triple bottom line will become the quadruple bottom line - in my opinion. The fourth element will be about ethics, or the state of being. If the motivation for dealing with profits, people and the planet does not come from the heart, ...

Health or sick reform?

Someone Must Pay for Health Reform is the title of an article by Catherine Arnst in Business Week (June 1, 2009). She says that, "there are only three ways to pay for universal coverage: Raise taxes, cut payments to medical providers, or ration care." How can it be in this era of systems thinking that such a view can prevail? It assumes that the current US view of healthcare delivery is about health, when it is actually about sickness. The whole current argument rages around a sick sy...

Sustainable Justice

With more than 2.3 million people behind bars, the United States leads the world in both the number and percentage of residents it incarcerates, leaving far-more-populous China a distant second. More than one in 100 adults in the United States is in jail or prison, an all-time high that is costing state and federal governments about $55 billion a year. Given the poor outcomes, is this expenditure worthwhile? American justice makes a poor job of considering the system of which we are all a...

Worldly Happiness – Transcendent Happiness

We all seek happiness. Most of us want worldly happiness: things, experiences, relationships. At work we want business success. Where does that lead us? In most cases to wanting more. That is why so much of business counts growth as the reward: growth in sales, market share, profits. It produces frustration, stress and suffering. What if we could get ourselves to move on from that repetitive cycle? Where would we be headed? Most probably towards transcendent happiness. In business that may so...