A Failure of Nerve -- Chapter 1
Imaginative Gridlock and The Spirit of Adventure

Learning will not automatically change the way people see things or think.

First there must be a shift in the emotional processes of the institution.

When any relationship system is imaginatively gridlocked, it cannot get free simply through more thinking about the problem.

We have our "equators." (imagination-inhibitors or emotional barriers that prevent new thinking)

Information can function as superstition when encompassing emotional processes assert a regressive pull.

There are three major, interlocking characteristics common to any relationship system that has become imaginatively gridlocked:

The Treadmill Effect is like a fly perpetually bouncing off a window in can see right though.

The way one frames the question pre-determines the range of answers one can conceive in response.

Seeking answers can be its own treadmill.  Changing the questions enables one to step off!

Willingness to risk is critical to validating one's perceptions

Three facets that convey the relationship between risk and reality and add evidence for the proposition that both stuckness and reorientation are essentially emotional processes:

If making mistakes is relatively unimportant in an atmosphere of adventure, being willing to encounter serendipity is vital to its continuing spirit.

The willingness to encounter serendipity is the best antidote we have for the arrogance of thinking we know.

What differentiates the great explorers is their "self-differentiation"  and that is the universal emotional phenomenon.

Factors that must be present in the leaders of any social system if it is to have a renaissance:

  1. A capacity to get outside the emotional climate of the day.
  2. A willingness to be exposed, that is, vulnerable.
  3. Persistence in the face of resistance and downright rejection.
  4. Stamina in the face of sabotage along the way.
  5. "Headstrong" and ruthless"
Chapter Focus Old World Orientation New Orientation
1.  Adventure Imagination is cerebral. Imagination is emotional.
2.  Anxiety It's in the mind. It's in between people
3.  Data Be as informed as possible. The capacity to be decisive is more critical.
4.  Empathy Foster feelings, sensitivity, rights. Foster responsibility for one's own being and destiny.
5.  Self A leader's "selfishness" destroys community. A leader's self is essential to the integrity of a community.
6.  Models of Leadership Linear; reality has to do with the nature of things; work to motivate others. Systemic; reality is about relationships; work to differentiate self.
7.  Stress Results from hard work. Results from position in relational triangles
8.  Power Exercised through coercion. Expressed through presence.
9.  Crises and Sabotage Are basically dangers to be avoided; polarize the opposition. Can be a sign of success, preserve self and stay connected.
10.  The Past It is prelude to the present. It resides within the present.

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Personal notes on reading from :

Friedman, E. H.  A failure of nerve:  Leadership in the age of the quick fix.