The Power of Spirit: How Organizations Transform

by Harrison Owen

Book Overview

Forms and transforms in people, they become strong, focused, and vibrant-and wonderful things can happen. But when the spirit is down, nothing else seems to make a difference-because not too much... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1576750906
• ISBN13: 9781576750902
• Release Date: August 2000
• Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers
• Length: 260 Pages
• Weight: 0.79 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.0" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

A Good Read!

Harrison Owen's book has its share of shortcomings, but there is certainly something to recommend here as well. Owen's explanations of organizational change, complex adaptive systems and chaos theory as they apply to business and innovation are lucid and easy to understand. Less appealing are his lapses into jargon that seems more appropriate to a yoga class than a human resources department, and the theoretical tone that permeates the book. We from getAbstract recommend this book to anyone in search of an alternative perspective on modern management.

The Difference That Makes a Difference...

is that this book is clearly written from the heart, and offers a deeply human solution to the "soul pollution" in today's workplace. I've read most the well known books on organizational change/transformation - and there are some excellent ones - but this one really rings true. Mr. Owen suggests that management, a barely disguised euphemism for control, is a figment of our imagination. He holds that choas is actually the natural state of human affairs, not the exception. If we let go of outdated beliefs, and simply observe how things really get done, we will transform toxic workplaces into inspired organizations. By simply embracing what is.Like a lot of people, especially women, I left corporate America because I was unable to reconcile their values w/ mine. Always puzzled by people who contrasted their "work personalities" with their "real personalities", I'm more convinced than ever that separating from ourselves at work is not only unnecessary, but destroys the organization along with the selves that make it up!Spending time with Harrison Owen's voice allows you to hear your own.