Core Values: A System of Capacity
This post was adapted from Chapter 4 of Flock Not Clock. What are core values, and why does every company feel compelled to create and publicize them?…
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Part of our research mission is making the science of systems thinking available to everyone. The blog and the Cabrera Lab Podcast are where we share it. Views here are our own, not those of our partners or of Cornell University.
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“The Purpose of a System Is What It Does.”
This post is adapted from Chapter 4 of Flock Not Clock. We must sound a cautionary note on evaluating whether capacity and mission align. Systems and …
Capacity and Mission Must Be Aligned
This post is an excerpt from Chapter 4 of Flock Not Clock. When the linkage between capacity and mission is broken or “de-coupled” (i.e., when capacit…
The Things You Do Every Day Build Capacity
This post is an excerpt from Chapter 4 of Flock Not Clock. In a fictitious example, let’s say our organization’s vision is to “Eradicate Fleas Worldwi…
We Build Capacity to Do Our Mission
This post is an excerpt from Chapter 4 of Flock Not Clock. What is capacity? Capacity is a general term, used in disciplines from physics and mathemat…
Why Do I Need A Mission?
This post is adapted from Chapter 3 of Flock Not Clock Why does your organization need a mission? How else does any collective know what’s best to do?…
Mission Confusion Abounds!
This blog is an excerpt from Chapter 3 of Flock Not Clock. Starting in the 1980s, there was tremendous pressure to create a mission statement (some bl…
Slider: Mental Models Cause Behavior: An Interview with Dr. Derek Cabrera
Staff: In our work the idea of mental models is prevalent. I know that you have this idea about how mental models cause your behavior. Can you give me…
How Could We Go So Wrong With Something So Important?
This post is an excerpt from Chapter 2 of Flock Not Clock. There’s a reason that there are articles in Inc. titled “The 9 Worst Mission Statements of …
The Thinking Tree
The Thinking Tree illustrates that the many types of thinking we distinguish are all borne of a simple set of cognitive rules. Mastering these simple …
Is Knowledge (K) the same as Mental models (M)?
Over the years, different variables/symbols have been used for the same equation. In some cases for good reason, and in other cases solely because, li…
Slider: Integrity vs Duplicity - An Interview With Dr. Derek Cabrera
This post is a part of the ongoing Slider series. Find more like this one here . [Staff] You talk about mental models a lot in our work. And, you also…