“Example is not the main thing in influencing others. It is the only thing. ” — Albert Schweitzer The group that has innovation leadership innovates and can reap rewards beyond imagination. I’m not exaggerating. I’ve seen it happen many times, and so have you—beyond what anyone could imagine. But this will happen only if […]
Author Archive | Tom Peterson
Make Mistakes, Lots of Them!
I’m on a plane in Central America in 1981. The guy in the next seat, who works for 3M, shows me these little pads that I later learn are called Post-it Notes. He enthusiastically describes how useful they’ll be in the work place. I remember being skeptical; obviously I was wrong. Post-its were invented […]
Are You Fearful or do you have Hope?
Should we be full of fear or of hope? For many years, I’ve paid attention to how people working to improve the world talk about their personal struggles between pessimism and optimism. Two of these, Bill Moyers and Paul Hawken, shared their thoughts with new graduates. “I find I […]
How to Break Through — with Limited Funds
You may be involved with a cause that wants to take its mission to a new level. But most likely, it’s got limited funds. Actually, that’s okay. In fact, it may be the best place to start. And this idea isn’t new: More than 2,000 years ago Plato called necessity the […]
Beautiful Trouble: A Toolbox for Revolution
Today I’m sharing this book review by fellow blogger, Paul Kuttner, from his culturalorganizing.org. Enjoy! The playing field has changed drastically for activists and organizers over the past few decades. The initially revolutionary tools of sit-ins, marches, and boycotts have become standardized and — let’s be honest — predictable. […]
Innovation, the Yin and Yang
Innovation never travels a predictable road, but there are patterns. If there were a sure-fire method for innovating, we would long ago have cured the diseases and built space colonies. In fact, the innovative process is messy. It’s frustrating and exhilarating. And much advice on the subject seems to contradict itself. […]
When a Tree is a Monk
Often we can’t see the forest for the trees. But sometimes we might just need to see the tree differently. I was recently talking with some folks at Interfaith Power & Light, an organization that works with faith groups on climate change. They were telling me about their work with Buddhist monks who […]
Lexicon of Sustainability
This weekend I went to a farmers market and got my first Arkansas peaches for the season. With one delicious and long anticipated bite I took part in the still rapidly growing food movement. Farmers markets continue to multiply — from 350 in the seventies to more than 7,000 today. And movement vocabulary is keeping […]
The Café of Miracles
I was recently in a conversation where this piece I wrote years ago came up. It was first published in World Ark, a magazine I started in the early nineties. I said I’d re-share it. No longer small, Eliot is taller than me, so this is becoming more his world than mine. Since […]
What is a Good School?
If we’re going to creatively solve the world’s challenges, we’ve got to ramp up our curiosity and seek inspiration from the greats who went before. Artist and social activist Ben Shahn was once asked by a student to name a quality art school. His response, “A good art school is one that […]