DOCSLIB.ORG

The Naked Truth a Working Woman’S Manifesto on Business and What Really Matters

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Naked Truth a Working Woman’S Manifesto on Business and What Really Matters 01_97143x ffirs.qxd 7/29/04 12:51 PM Page v The Naked Truth A Working Woman’s Manifesto on Business and What Really Matters Margaret Heffernan 01_97143x ffirs.qxd 7/29/04 12:51 PM Page ii 01_97143x ffirs.qxd 7/29/04 12:51 PM Page i 01_97143x ffirs.qxd 7/29/04 12:51 PM Page ii 01_97143x ffirs.qxd 7/29/04 12:51 PM Page iii The Naked Truth 01_97143x ffirs.qxd 7/29/04 12:51 PM Page iv 01_97143x ffirs.qxd 7/29/04 12:51 PM Page v The Naked Truth A Working Woman’s Manifesto on Business and What Really Matters Margaret Heffernan 01_97143x ffirs.qxd 7/29/04 12:51 PM Page vi Copyright © 2004 by Margaret Heffernan. All rights reserved. Published by Jossey-Bass A Wiley Imprint 989 Market Street, San Francisco, CA 94103-1741 www.josseybass.com No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, 978-750-8400, fax 978-750-4470, or on the web at www.copyright.com. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, 201-748-6011, fax 201-748-6008, e-mail: [email protected]. Jossey-Bass books and products are available through most bookstores. To contact Jossey-Bass directly call our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at 800-956-7739, outside the U.S. at 317-572-3986 or fax 317-572-4002. Jossey-Bass also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books. Permission credits appear on page 263. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Heffernan, Margaret, 1955– The naked truth : a working woman’s manifesto on business and what really matters / Margaret Heffernan.—1st ed. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-7879-7143-X (alk. paper) 1. Women executives—Interviews. 2. Businesswomen—Interviews. 3. Women employees—Promotions. 4. Achievement motivation in women. 5. Success—Psychological aspects. 6. Ability. 7. Success in business. I. Title: Working woman’s manifesto on business and what really matters. II. Title. HD6054.3.H435 2004 658.4’09’082—dc22 2004007900 Printed in the United States of America FIRST EDITION HB Printing 10987654321 02_97143x ftoc.qxd 7/29/04 1:00 PM Page vii Contents Preface ix Participants xiii Introduction 1 1 Start Smart 6 2 Geishas, Bitches, Guys—and the Invisible Woman 26 3 Balls to the Wall: Toxic Bosses and Hostile Environments 52 4 The Emperor’s New Clothes 77 5 Power and Where It Comes From 93 6 Sex, Love, and a Vision for Life 120 7 The Whole Life 139 8 How High Can You Go? 163 9 Breaking Up Is Hard to Do 186 10 The Entrepreneuse 200 11 The Parallel Universe 217 Notes 231 Web Resources 237 Bibliography 241 Acknowledgments 247 The Author 251 Index 253 vii 03_97143x fbetw.qxd 7/29/04 1:00 PM Page viii To Lindsay 04_97143x fpref.qxd 7/29/04 1:00 PM Page ix Preface In 2002, I wrote an article for Fast Company magazine. I had a sense that some weird things were happening in women’s careers and I wanted to test the waters, to see if what I thought was going on was as ubiquitous as I imagined. I discussed some of these issues with the magazine’s founder, Alan Webber, who invited me to write something. He said if it was any good he’d publish it. When the article appeared in Fast Company, I was entirely unprepared for the response. I was inundated with email, from all over America and, eventually, all over the world. Thousands of emails from women stuck, frustrated, angry, disillusioned, disap- pointed, and, in some cases, disappearing. Many of the letters were passionate accounts of the obstacles these women had encoun- tered—obstacles that no one had warned them about. Some of the letters were cries for help; others were practical solutions. I spent four months doing almost nothing more than answer- ing my email. The letters were too personal and too passionate to warrant an automated reply—and there was too much to learn from them. When the tide subsided, I sat down and listed every correspondent and her location, industry, age, and position. When I came to write this book, I started with a sample from this group, chosen to ensure that I looked at issues that transcended any par- ticular age or place or job. My correspondents—many of whom I’ve now met, many of whom introduced me to yet more extraor- dinary women—form the basis of this book. My Fast Company experiment confirmed—beyond my wildest imaginings—what I had seen in my own career and the careers of many women I’d worked with and for: that women are still abused, undervalued, and alienated in a business world that still can’t rec- ognize and respect them; that the pressure to align personal and work values is urgent and unrelenting; and that many women are ix 04_97143x fpref.qxd 7/29/04 1:00 PM Page x x PREFACE inventing solutions that, if they were shared, could make us a lot less lonely. I’d always known women preferred solving problems to reporting them, but I’d never imagined so many smart, creative solutions. My meetings and correspondence with so many women also delineated the fundamental pattern of women’s careers: we start off promisingly, do well—and then, as we gain some seniority and power, weird things start to happen to us. What worked before sud- denly isn’t effective any more. If we can understand the pattern here, and know that it is systemic, not personal, we can work through it and emerge with personal power, freedom, and a true sense of having crafted our lives. We can see what’s happening to us, make some choices, know when to leave (and how), and go on to craft careers that map meaningfully to the values we refuse to surrender. The shape of this book mirrors that pattern: from how we decide what we want to be when we grow up, through the bad things we encounter, to the gaining of power, creation of a life, and the making of big decisions about staying and going. There is a lot about money in this book. Not because I believe that money is the only reason to work or the only reward that work brings. I don’t. (In fact, I’m staggered that after decades of research showing that money is not a primary motivator for work, most cor- porations still manage their employees as though it were.) Women in this book come from the for-profit and non-profit worlds and pursue rewarding careers in both. But the economic independence of women is a vital issue for us if we are going to change our pres- ent circumstances, in which the poor, for the most part, are women; in which we are paid less, have a lower standard of living, and retire on less. No one who respects and admires women can be satisfied with a state of affairs in which women remain dependent on, and loyal to, institutions and companies that continually let them down. We can’t wait for those institutions and companies to fix this; we have to take responsibility for our financial independence. We have to make informed choices and understand the financial repercus- sions of our decisions. Facing some of the truths in this book will take nerve. It’s dis- appointing to find that stereotypes, harassment, and discrimina- tion are still with us. But it’s exhilarating to find women fighting through those obstacles to evolve their own concept of power, to 04_97143x fpref.qxd 7/29/04 1:00 PM Page xi PREFACE xi craft a blend of work and life that really does satisfy, to design career paths that do not require the splitting of personal values from work values, and to run companies that give the entire busi- ness community a different view of how work can be done. These women, all with successful careers, know that telling the naked truth about what business is, and could be, is the only way to make it better for everyone. Boston and Farrington Gurney MARGARET HEFFERNAN July 2004 04_97143x fpref.qxd 7/29/04 1:00 PM Page xii 05_97143x flast.qxd 7/29/04 1:00 PM Page xiii Participants The names of some participants have been changed to protect their careers. Linda Alepin, senior executive at IBM and Amdahl Corporations. CEO, Pebblesoft Learning Inc. Partner, Center for New Futures. California. Mother. Paige Arnof-Fenn, CEO, Mavens & Moguls. Worked in Wall Street, for Procter & Gamble and Coca-Cola. Boston. Cathy Aston, mid-level manager in one of the big three finance companies. Midwest. Mother. Jacqueline de Baer, managing director, Jacqueline de Baer PLC. London. Mother. Kimberly Bunting, CEO/President, Business Access LLC. Texas. Mother. Chris Carosella, SVP for Fortune 100 company. Now CEO, Bold Strategies. Colorado. Betsy Cohen, VP, consumer products. Midwest. Mother. Ruth Cohen, medical practitioner.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Margaret Heffernan Uncharted: How to Navigate the Future (Simon & Schuster, September 8, 2020 $30.00) Book Summary from Fo
    Suggestion below is proprietary to Hooks Book Events - you agree not to pursue the author, directly or through another source, without HBE. Margaret Heffernan Uncharted: How to Navigate the Future (Simon & Schuster, September 8, 2020 $30.00) Book Summary From former CEO and popular TED speaker Margaret Heffernan comes a timely and enlightening book that equips you with the tools you need to face the future with confidence and courage. How can we think about the future? What do we need to do—and who do we need to be? In her bold and invigorating new book, distinguished businesswoman and author Margaret Heffernan explores the people and organizations who aren’t daunted by uncertainty. We are addicted to prediction, desperate for certainty about the future. But the complexity of modern life won’t provide that; experts in forecasting are reluctant to look more than 400 days out. History doesn’t repeat itself and even genetics won’t tell you everything you want to know. Tomorrow remains uncharted territory, but Heffernan demonstrates how we can forge ahead with agility. Drawing on a wide array of people and places, Uncharted traces long-term projects that shrewdly evolved over generations to meet the unpredictable challenges of every new age. Heffernan also looks at radical exercises and experiments that redefined standard practices by embracing different perspectives and testing fresh approaches. Preparing to confront a variable future provides the antidote to passivity and prediction. Ranging freely through history and from business to science, government to friendships, this refreshing book challenges us to mine our own creativity and humanity for the capacity to create the futures we want and can believe in.
    [Show full text]
  • 14 SEP 11 Shortlist Press Release GS APPROVED
    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE SHORTLIST ANNOUNCED FOR THE FINANCIAL TIMES AND GOLDMAN SACHS BUSINESS BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD 2011 Thursday 15th September 2011: The Financial Times and Goldman Sachs today announced the shortlist for the seventh annual Financial Times and Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award (www.ft.com/bookaward), which aims to identify the book providing the most compelling and enjoyable insight into modern business issues. The shortlist is: • Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty Abhijit V. Banerjee and Esther Duflo (Perseus Books, Public Affairs, USA) • Exorbitant Privilege: The Rise and Fall of the Dollar Barry Eichengreen (Oxford University Press, UK) • Triumph of the City: How Our Greatest Invention Makes Us Richer, Smarter, Greener, Healthier and Happier Edward L. Glaeser (The Penguin Press, USA; Macmillan, UK) • Willful Blindness: Why We Ignore the Obvious at Our Peril Margaret Heffernan (Walker & Co, USA; Simon & Schuster, UK) • Good Strategy, Bad Strategy: The Difference and Why It Matters Richard Rumelt (Crown Business, USA; Profile, UK) • The Quest: Energy, Security, and the Remaking of the Modern World Daniel Yergin (The Penguin Press, USA; Allen Lane, UK) The distinguished panel of judges, chaired by Lionel Barber, Editor, Financial Times, this year comprises: • Vindi Banga, Partner, Clayton, Dubilier & Rice • Lynda Gratton, Professor of Management Practice, London Business School • Arthur Levitt, former Chairman of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission • Mario Monti, President of Bocconi University, Milan, European chairman of the Trilateral Commission, honorary president of Bruegel • Jorma Ollila, Chairman of Nokia and Royal Dutch Shell • Shriti Vadera, Director of Shriti Vadera Ltd, Non-Executive Director of BHP Billiton and AstraZeneca Lionel Barber, Editor, Financial Times, said: “I am delighted with the breadth and depth of this year's shortlist.
    [Show full text]
  • Willful Blindness Margaret Heffernan Introduction P.1 Willful Blindness
    Willful Blindness Margaret Heffernan Introduction p.1 willful blindness: "...denying truths that were too painful, too frightening to confront. It’s something we all do, even when we have grown up. The problem arises when we use the same mechanism to deny uncomfortable truths that cry out for acknowledgment, debate, action, and change." p.2 "...the legal concept of willful blindness: You are responsible if you could have known, and should have known, something that instead you strove not to see." Deliberate indifference or willful ignorance: "...the idea that there is an opportunity for knowledge, and a responsibility to be informed, but it is shirked." p.3 "But it struck me that one source of our blindness at work is the artificial divide between personal and working lives." "We mostly admit the information that makes us feel great about ourselves, while conveniently filtering whatever unsettles our fragile egos and most vital beliefs." p.4 "Fear of conflict, fear of change keeps us that way. An unconscious (and much denied) impulse to obey and conform shields us from confrontation and crowds provide friendly alibis for our inertia. And money has the power to blind us, even to our better selves." "We may think being blind makes us safer, when in fact it leaves us crippled, vulnerable, and powerless. But when we confront facts and fears, we achieve real power and unleash our capacity for change." Affinity and Beyond p.6 "Embedded within our self-definition, we build relationships, institutions, cities, systems, and cultures that, in reaffirming our values, blind us to alternatives.
    [Show full text]
  • Age and High-Growth Entrepreneurship Pierre Azoulay
    Working Paper Series WP-18-11 Age and High-Growth Entrepreneurship Pierre Azoulay International Programs Professor of Management Massachusetts Institute of Technology Benjamin Jones Gordon and Llura Gund Family Professor of Entrepreneurship IPR Associate Northwestern University J. Daniel Kim PhD Candidate Massachusetts Institute of Technology Javier Miranda U.S. Census Bureau Center for Administrative Records Research Version: April 11, 2018 DRAFT Please do not quote or distribute without permission. ABSTRACT Many observers, and many investors, believe that young people are especially likely to produce the most successful new firms. The researchers use administrative data at the U.S. Census Bureau to study the ages of founders of growth-oriented start-ups in the past decade. Their primary finding is that successful entrepreneurs are middle-aged, not young. The mean founder age for the 1 in 1,000 fastest growing new ventures is 45.0. The findings are broadly similar when considering high-technology sectors, entrepreneurial hubs, and successful firm exits. Prior experience in the specific industry predicts much greater rates of entrepreneurial success. These findings strongly reject common hypotheses that emphasize youth as a key trait of successful entrepreneurs. “Young people are just smarter,” Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook “The cutoff in investors’ heads is 32…after 32, they start to be a little skeptical.” Paul Graham, venture capitalist and founder of Y Combinator1 I. Introduction Entrepreneurship has long been heralded as a key driver of rising living standards (Smith 1776, Schumpeter 1942, Lucas 1978), but successful entrepreneurship is rare, with the vast majority of entrepreneurs failing to provide the major innovations or creative destruction that can drive economic growth (Glaeser 2009; Haltiwanger, Jarmin and Miranda 2013; Guzman and Stern 2017; Levin and Rubenstein 2015).
    [Show full text]
  • Brené Brown the Sunday Times and New York Times Global Best Seller 2020
    RECOMMENDED READING March 2021 OUR ALUMNI AUTHORS... The NeuroGeneration: The New Era in Brain Enhancement That Is Revolutionizing the Way We Think, Work, and Heal - Tan Le In The NeuroGeneration, award-winning inventor Tan Le explores exciting advancements in brain science and neurotechnology that are revolutionizing the way we think, work, and heal. Join Le as she criss-crosses the globe, introducing the brilliant neurotech innovators and neuroscientists at the frontiers of brain enhancement. Along the way, she shares incredible stories from individuals whose lives are already Girl A being transformed by their inventions—an Abigail Dean endurance racer paralysed in a fall, who now walks The Flower Girls The Sunday Times and New York Times global best seller thanks to neural stimulation and an exoskeleton; a Alice Clark-Platts man who drives a race car with his mind; even a Lex Gracie doesn’t want to think about her family. colour-blind “cyborg” whose brain implant allows him to “hear” colours. Three children went out to play. Only two came She doesn’t want to think about growing up in her back. parents’ House of Horrors. And she doesn’t want to Le also explores how these futuristic innovations The Flower Girls. Laurel and Primrose. One think about her identity as Girl A: the girl who will impact our world, disrupt the way we do convicted of murder, the other given a new identity. escaped. When her mother dies in prison and business, upend healthcare as we know it, and Now, nineteen years later, another child has gone leaves Lex and her siblings the family home, she remake our lives in wondrous and unexpected missing.
    [Show full text]
  • D/Deaf Culture Gives New Meaning to Multicultural Studies
    FALL 2020 VOLUME 20 • NUMBER 1 Amplifying the black SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT A Broken Industry: How Market Research Fails Researchers of Color voice TOOLBOX d/Deaf Culture Gives New Meaning to Multicultural Studies GLOBAL The Story of Not Everyday Life: From 0 to 900 in 30 days n BOOK REVIEWS n complete data and a good model for how and collectively as a group. For example, a complex system works. But Heffernan the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness points out that by trying to simplify Innovations (CEPI) has developed a complexity, we miss seeing all the forces four-pronged approach to defending at work that produce a particular result. against future epidemics. First, realize This misdirection is amplified by relying that epidemics come without warning. on data that are typically incomplete, full They move fast because of international of error and bias. travel and can spread across the globe Heffernan explores how this folly plays within sixty days. Since the 1970s, new out in many areas such as financial pathogens appear at the rate of one or forecasting and DNA profiling, which she more each year and no two epidemics describes as a “chemical horoscope full of are alike. The CEPI framework consid- potential and possibilities but little ers the messy and unpredictable forces certainty.” The genes that determine that play into a pandemic such as Uncharted: How to Navigate the something as simple as hair color are politics, culture, and individual choice. Future by Margaret Heffernan, Avid incredibly complex. Even if science were By using the framework, epidemiologists Reader Press, 2020 at the point to confidently create designer can develop a more effective response.
    [Show full text]
  • Diversity of Thought in the Boardroom: an Antidote to Groupthink? Hermione Winterton*
    WHITE PAPER - SEPTEMBER 2020 Diversity of thought in the boardroom: An antidote to groupthink? Hermione Winterton* I. INTRODUCTION ignificant progress has been made in In order to harness the advantage that cognitive improving the diversity of corporate diversity can give a board, a business should appoint boards. Until now, however, the focus directors who not only appear to be diverse but S has been on the benefit of obtaining who are also capable of thinking and communicating identity diversity, which is defined by diverse thoughts and opinions. Unlike what many Scott E. Page as someone’s race, gender, age, ethnicity, assume, these two traits are not intrinsically linked religion or sexual orientation.1 There has been plenty – identity diversity is not a proxy for diversity of written about the benefits of having these diversity thought, and hiring for diversity of backgrounds does traits in the boardroom, but there has so far been a not necessarily yield different perspectives. reluctance to critically examine the difference they make. This may be because of the assumption that This paper will examine the role of corporate boards having people from diverse backgrounds automatically and the increasing challenges they face as they equates to having diverse perspectives on a board.2 navigate the emerging risks associated with 21st century connectivity. It will explore the phenomenon Board diversity, whether in terms of identity or thought, of groupthink and the role it played in the collapse has been cited as the antidote to the phenomenon of Enron. It will go on to examine research on the of groupthink which was first defined by the social power of diversity of thought, before making some psychologist Irving Janis in the early 1970s.
    [Show full text]
  • MASTERCLASS INSIGHTS: Beyond Measure – the Big Impact of Small Changes: Margaret Heffernan
    MASTERCLASS INSIGHTS: Beyond Measure – the big impact of small changes: Margaret Heffernan November 2016 In partnership with IRISH MANAGEMENT INSTITUTE W: WWW.IMI.IE Follow us on @IMI_Ireland IRISH MANAGEMENT INSTITUTE - PAGE 1 Overview and Key Takeaways A former CEO of five businesses and author of several books including her most recent titled "Beyond Measure: The Big Impact of Small Changes", Margaret Heffernan is an acute observer of human patterns of thinking and behaviour, in particular those that often lead managers and organizations astray. In this Masterclass, kindly sponsored by Zurich Life, Margaret revealed how deceptively small measures can have a disproportionate impact on building a strong, sustainable organisational culture. In her keynote she drew on her considerable experience in business, and ability to synthesise and apply diverse models and thinking, in a challenging and insightful reflection on current organisational, leadership and societal topics of concern. Wilful Blindness Margaret began her reflection by looking at the concept of Wilful Blindness. This is a subject she addressed in her 2011 book. Wilful blindness is a legal term, cited in the trial of Enron’s Skilling and Lay, which states that if there is knowledge that you could have had and should have had but chose not to have, you are still responsible. Margaret researched several cases across business and society and found in all cases there were people who had ‘spoken up’ but were ignored. Margaret now sees that wilful blindness has a second aspect – not only is it the failure to see and acknowledge cracks and problems, but it is also the failure to see opportunity, creativity and innovation.
    [Show full text]
  • SEASON 4 EPISODE 5 Dr Margaret Heffernan
    STUDY GUIDE SEASON 4, EPISODE 5 (S04, E05) Tackling Uncertainty - Conversation with Dr. Margaret Heffernan Podcast Episode Notes: Uncertainty is a crucial issue in the COVID-19 pandemic and with other ongoing issues such as climate change, disasters, systemic injustice, the future of younger generations, etc. Join renowned author and speaker, Dr. Margaret Heffernan and Multi-Hazards podcast host Vin Nelsen as they discuss uncertainty and the incredible findings from Margaret’s latest book, Uncharted: How to Navigate the Future. Have a listen! Margaret Heffernan’s Bio Dr. Margaret Heffernan produced programmes for the BBC for 13 years. She then moved to the US where she spearheaded multimedia productions for Intuit, The Learning Company and Standard&Poors. She was Chief Executive of InfoMation Corporation, ZineZone Corporation and then iCast Corporation, was named one of the "Top 25" by Streaming Media magazine and one of the "Top 100 Media Executives" by The Hollywood Reporter. The author of six books, Margaret’s third book, Willful Blindness : Why We Ignore the Obvious at our Peril was named one of the most important business books of the decade by the Financial Times. In 2015, she was awarded the Transmission Prize for A Bigger Prize: Why Competition isn’t Everything and How We Do Better, described as "meticulously researched... engagingly written... universally relevant and hard to fault." Her TED talks have been seen by over twelve million people and in 2015 TED published Beyond Measure: The Big Impact of Small Changes. Her most recent book, Uncharted: How to map the future was published in 2020.
    [Show full text]
  • Margaret Heffernan Transcript
    The Future of Work podcast is a weekly show where Jacob has in-depth conversations with senior level executives, business leaders, and bestselling authors around the world on the future of work and the future in general. Topics cover everything from AI and automation to the gig economy to big data to the future of learning and everything in between. Each episode explores a new topic and features a special guest. You can listen to past episodes at www.TheFutureOrganization.com/future-work-podcast/. To learn more about Jacob and the work he is doing please visit www.TheFutureOrganization.com. You can also subscribe to Jacob’s YouTube channel, follow him on Twitter, or visit him on Facebook. Jacob 00:39 Hello, everyone. Welcome to another episode of the future of work with Jacob Morgan. My guest today is Dr. Margaret Heffernan. She's a TED speaker, entrepreneur, Professor of practice at the University of Bath School of Management in the UK. She's also the author of six books, including her most recent one, which is called Uncharted, how to map the future together. Margaret, thank you for joining me. Margaret 01:02 Well, thanks for inviting me. I'm looking forward to our conversation. Jacob 01:06 Yes, no, I had the opportunity to watch some of your videos and listen to some of the other interviews that you did. So I have lots of questions for you. But why don't we start with just a little bit of background information about you? Because I also know you're an entrepreneur, you started many companies over the years.
    [Show full text]
  • Margaret Heffernan, the Collaborative Capitalist | Financial Times
    Margaret Heffernan, the collaborative capitalist | Financial Times https://www.ft.com/content/7b7a9874-1192-11e4-a17a-00144fe... Margaret Heffernan Margaret Heffernan, the collaborative capitalist The executive and writer warns of the dangers to business of excessive competition In sorrow more than anger: Margaret Heffernan helped tech start-ups in Boston before returning to Britain to write Andrew Hill AUGUST 13 2014 Margaret Heffernan says she is neither an enemy of business nor a communist – as one colleague suggested after hearing the premise of her latest book, A Bigger Prize, about the dangers of competition. “I love business. I think the potential for business to solve the problems we face is immense and limitless. So I get really upset when we blow it,” she says, speaking in the garden of her 17th-century listed Somerset manor house, fruits of her successful career as executive, entrepreneur and writer. “It’s like you’ve taken this beautiful, beautiful piece of beef and just fried it to shoe leather.” Lately, she has channelled her disappointment into her writing. A Bigger Prize was preceded by Wilful Blindness (2011), a fierce critique of the tendency of people and organisations deliberately to ignore threats and scandals such as the fraud at Enron or sexual abuse by Catholic priests. But Ms Heffernan also continues to direct her good- humoured passion for, and optimism about, business into mentoring and teaching. She says companies have a great appetite for her ideas, however critical she is of the corporate status quo. 1 of 4 08/01/2020, 07:59 Margaret Heffernan, the collaborative capitalist | Financial Times https://www.ft.com/content/7b7a9874-1192-11e4-a17a-00144fe..
    [Show full text]
  • Wilful Blindness – Why We Ignore the Obvious at Our Peril by Margaret Heffernan
    Wilful Blindness – Why we ignore the obvious at our peril By Margaret Heffernan Content = *** Readability = *** Clarity & Structure = *** Paul Arnold Consulting PLANNING - FACILITATION - TRAINING 27 Kingsfield Avenue, Harrow, Mddx HA2 6AQ 07768 775988 [email protected] THE BOOK IN A NUTSHELL In a time of massive information explosion and increased complexity, we run an increased risk of becoming blind to events (such as ENRON, Bernard Madoff, The BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill etc). This is caused by a number of factors such as our brains limited capacity to assimilate all information consciously, our own self-perception of the world, our innate need to belong, an over focus on financial returns versus people, fear of change and our obedience to authority. It takes courage, perseverance and an outsider’s perspective to dare to challenge. Organizations need to wake up to threat of blindness and set in place safeguards to help them see more clearly. KEY PRINCIPLES ‘Go go go said the bird: human kind cannot bear very much reality’ – T.S Eliot, Four Quartets The book explores a wide range of different factors that contribute to our often unconscious drive to be blind to certain events. The limits of our minds We are naturally biased and cannot help it. We are living in an over stimulated environment. Our brains are unable to cope with all the inputs - so it filters out irrelevant information; focusing on those things we feel are important. Attention is a zero sum game – when we focus on one thing it means we must lose focus on other things.
    [Show full text]