cannyben

Delivering superior performance while building the capability to do it again and again is the definition of a great organization. Yet most organizations and their leaders fail to achieve this. The roots of their failure lie in their approach. One day a poor farmer discovers in the nest of his pet goose a glittering golden egg. At first, he thinks it must be some kind of trick. But on second thought, he decides to take the egg and have it examined. The farmer can’t believe his good fortune. The egg is pure gold ! he becomes even more excited the next day when the goose lays another golden egg. Day after day, he awakens to rush to the nest and find another golden egg. Soon, he becomes fabulously rich. But with wealth comes greed and impatience. Unable to wait day after day for the golden eggs, the farmer decides to kill the goose and get them all at once. But when he opens the goose, he finds it empty. There are no golden eggs --- and now there is no way to get any more. The farmer has d...

Natural authority dominates the natural laws. All actions have consequences. When we pick up one end of a stick, we pick up the other. If we jump off a ten-story building, we can’t change our mind at the fifth story. Gravity controls. That is the stamp of nature. Nature has also stamped people with the freedom and power to choose, and, therefore, they have natural authority or domination over all of the rest of creation. Endangered species survive only by our consent. They don’t have freedom and power to choose. They lack self-awareness. They can’t reinvent themselves. They’re totally subject to humans, who, because they’re self-aware, alone have freedom and power to choose and to reinvent themselves. This is natural authority. Moral authority is the ‘principled’ use of our freedom and power to choose. In other words, if we follow principles in our relationships with each other, we tap into the permission of nature. Natural laws (like gravity) and principles (like respect, honesty, kin...