QUESTION 5: In the book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, one of the habits that Steven Covey outlines is “think win-win”, which is all about both/and thinking. In fact, Steven Covey uses the same “slice of pie” analogy as Firms of Endearment (p. 213) to contrast the scarcity mentality (either/or) with the abundance mentality (both/and). Getting to Yes by Roger Fisher and William Ury outlines a strategy for approaching negotiation that requires “inventing options for mutual gain”, or in the language of Firms of Endearment, transcending the zero-sum mindset. Firms of Endearment sets itself apart by emphasizing the value of both/and thinking as it applies to aligning the interest of a broad array of stakeholders. Companies often strive
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It was founded because civil engineering firms are generally slow to embrace change and struggle to create an organizational structure or culture that fosters truly innovative solutions. The founders of HELM saw an opportunity to create an environment to foster innovation and champion nascent engineering practices that best serve the needs of the client, community, and society. That being said, HELM currently suffers from a lack of leadership and hierarchy. Members of HELM have an overwhelming array of opportunities to pursue. The autonomy to choose to engage in projects ensures that the team will be passionate and engaged. However, it has also become clear that pursuing too many opportunities can become detrimental. In addition, many members have different visions for HELM, and it is difficult to unify efforts toward a goal if there are different visions for HELM. Without leadership to help individuals focus their talent and energy and to unify the vision, HELM may struggle to live up to its incredible …show more content…
HELM recently incorporated, and needs to elect officers. The corporate structure is such that the leader is accountable to the board of directors, which at HELM, is most of the employees and shareholders. This effectively creates a 360-degree review. The leader will be responsible for guiding individuals toward goals that leverage their strengths. They will need to think win-win and invent options for the mutual gain of the company, the employee, the client, and society. Because the leader has the authority to make binding decisions, individuals will need to engage in dialog with the leader that will require introspection. They will need to discover the path that has the greatest overall benefit when setting goals. Encouraging open discussion and critical thinking will leverage the advantages of hierarchy while minimizing the perceived loss of autonomy because “autonomy is a universal psychological need but it’s expression is always contextual” (Devine,
It was founded because civil engineering firms are generally slow to embrace change and struggle to create an organizational structure or culture that fosters truly innovative solutions. The founders of HELM saw an opportunity to create an environment to foster innovation and champion nascent engineering practices that best serve the needs of the client, community, and society. That being said, HELM currently suffers from a lack of leadership and hierarchy. Members of HELM have an overwhelming array of opportunities to pursue. The autonomy to choose to engage in projects ensures that the team will be passionate and engaged. However, it has also become clear that pursuing too many opportunities can become detrimental. In addition, many members have different visions for HELM, and it is difficult to unify efforts toward a goal if there are different visions for HELM. Without leadership to help individuals focus their talent and energy and to unify the vision, HELM may struggle to live up to its incredible …show more content…
HELM recently incorporated, and needs to elect officers. The corporate structure is such that the leader is accountable to the board of directors, which at HELM, is most of the employees and shareholders. This effectively creates a 360-degree review. The leader will be responsible for guiding individuals toward goals that leverage their strengths. They will need to think win-win and invent options for the mutual gain of the company, the employee, the client, and society. Because the leader has the authority to make binding decisions, individuals will need to engage in dialog with the leader that will require introspection. They will need to discover the path that has the greatest overall benefit when setting goals. Encouraging open discussion and critical thinking will leverage the advantages of hierarchy while minimizing the perceived loss of autonomy because “autonomy is a universal psychological need but it’s expression is always contextual” (Devine,