<p>An organization must have a hierarchy. That's the conventional wisdom. It's what everyone believes. It's also the easy and familiar option. Many think that the only alternative is chaos. They think proper organizations need hierarchy to get things done effectively. But hierarchy is just one possible way of getting things done in an organization. This book looks objectively at hierarchy and shows us why it has such a grip on us. It also shows how well the alternatives can work in practice. The book is vital reading for anyone who wants organizations to work better.</p>

The Three Ways of Getting Things Done

Gerard Fairtlough

Business & Money

Triarchy Press

The Search for Leadership: An Organisational Perspective

Most organisations - public, private and third sector - know they need to offer better leadership. But, in trying to do so, they too often look in the wrong place. Experience tells us that even heroic leaders are no better than the systems they work in. Flawed systems strangle leadership. The answer? Stop polishing the fish and tackle the water they swim in! The Search for Leadership shows why it is naive to expect much leadership from individual managers acting alone. Only when we start to see leadership as a property of the organisation can we begin to improve it. William Tate pulls no punches in his examination of leadership in business, politics and institutions like the police and the Health Service. Using forensic analysis, cogent argument and damning case studies, he shows why conventional leadership models and programmes miss the point and waste our money. In their place he presents a proven and practical 'Systems Thinking' approach that will transform the way leadership is developed, applied and held accountable for delivering results.  This eye-opening account of the challenges organisations face is written for managers as well as developers, teachers, researchers and coaches. Its systemic focus sets it apart from other leadership books. It will change the way you think about leadership and help improve the way any organisation is run.

Tate, William

Management & Leadership

Transformative Innovation in Education

Leicester, Graham

Ready for Anything: Designing Resilience for a Transforming World

Tony Hodgson's new book - Ready for Anything - offers a clear and honest look at the state of the world today. It introduces The World System Model as a new and holistic way to gain an understanding of our particular predicament - and The IFF World Game as a quick and effective way of involving others in the exercise.  It goes on to examine the kind of resilient and adaptive solutions that can be most helpful to us - whether they are applied at the level of the school, the city or the Earth. Since so many of us (both human and other beings) have to live on this planet together, it sets out our best hope yet of finding sustainable ways of 'one-planet living'. Best of all, it helps ensure that we keep our heads out of the sand.

Anthony M. Hodgson

In The WHITEHALL Effect, John Seddon explains how and why it is that governments repeatedly fail to deliver what our public services need and exposes the devastation that three decades of political fads, fashions and bad theory have caused. Although his examples come from the UK, he and his colleagues at Vanguard consult with government and public sector bodies in 10 countries and the problems he identifies (outsourcing, incentives, targets, standards, inspection) can be found in all Western political systems. With specific examples and new evidence, he chronicles how the Whitehall ideas machine has failed on a monumental scale - and the impact that this has had on public sector workers and those of us who use public sector services. The WHITEHALL Effect provides fresh insights into some of the most challenging issues of our time (because of their impact on health, education, policing and all public services) and reveals the unprecedented opportunity we now have to create the public services we all deserve.

The Whitehall Effect: How Whitehall Became the Enemy of Great Public Services - and What We Can Do About it

John Seddon