By Jim Selman | Bio
Jerry Mander is a kind of technology prophet. As an ex-advertising guru he ‘got religion’ and in 1977 began to herald the dangers of technology in Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television. In his 1992 book, In
Monthly Archives: May 2010
No Regrets
Eighty-year-old Janey Cutler is the newest singing sensation on the talent circuit. Check out her performance in week four of the Britain’s Got Talent competition here.
Collaboration: An Endangered Competence?
By Jim Selman | Bio
I cannot remember having experienced or even having read about a time when there have been so many “extremes” co-existing in terms of political points of view and ways of understanding the world. All seem to simultaneously have the quality of being both ‘life threatening’ AND intractable. Whether we’re discussing climate change, social justice, lifestyles, civil rights, the economy, our political process or the price of oil, everyone seems to have a strongly held point of view without much evident interest in learning or working toward some common resolution of our differences. It would seem collaboration is fast becoming extinct—an endangered competence.Collaboration isn’t the same as compromise or negotiation. Collaboration is not about winning an argument or making the strongest case for a particular point of view. Collaboration is grounded in the simple notion that we can’t accomplish something alone. To collaborate means to accept and value our differences, rather than attempting to homogenize our thinking into some sort of bland agreement. Collaboration, like coaching, is primarily a process of creative
The Gulf: Captured By Our Creations
By Jim Selman | Bio
We’re all witnessing the horrifying disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. Most of us are running the gauntlet of emotions from sadness to anger. There is a lot of handwringing as the Gulf Coast girds itself for yet another devastating blow. It is not clear if this will be worse than Katrina, but that possibility looms large. We can rebuild after a hurricane. The damage from an oil spill of this magnitude can last for decades—or for all eternity.No doubt British Petroleum will pay. The Valdez cost Exxon upwards of $5B I’m told. Since these costs get passed on, the fact is that, at the end of the day, we all pay.
Following the Valdez, I was hired by one of Exxon’s subsidiaries to craft an alcohol and drug policy. We worked with about a hundred individuals representing a cross-section of the company from the CEO to ship captains and union representatives to office workers. Over eight weeks, we debated the ‘rules’