When people use disagreement as an arena in which to prove that they are more valuable than their opponents, performance suffers.

The ground rules I suggest are the following: Information is free; everybody can speak to anybody about any issue he finds relevant. If two people have an operational conflict, they must first try to solve it themselves using the process described in this chapter.

The argument for a spiritual view of business finds support from the great advocate of laissez-faire economics, Adam Smith. The eighteenth century ethics professor argued that businesspeople must concern themselves with other people’s welfare. It is not about enlightenment, but simply good business practice. “The most apt to prevail [in the marketp

When Hixon describes the spiritual seeker as “blind and deaf” and averse to engagement with human society, he touches on the main argument many business people make against the spiritual quest.

Fred argued that the only justification for performance measurement was to enhance people’s capacities to produce outcomes they truly desired.

Keeping toxic opinions to yourself is not much better. When you control your tongue, you stuff the toxicity in your mind. If you simply withhold your toxic opinion while taking it as the truth, you will end up causing the same (or worse) problems in the long term. When you hide relevant information—including opinions and feelings—problems remain hi

The inventor Buckminster Fuller used to be fond of saying, “If you want to change how a person thinks, give up. You cannot change how another person thinks. Give them a tool the use of which will gradually lead them to think differently.”

A captain accepts that everything that happens during his watch is his responsibility. You are the captain of your life. You must sail as best as you can no matter how “unfair” the weather is.

What did these leaders learn? First, they learned that freedom, responsibility, and integrity are the keys to success, but that these qualities demand the courage to face existential anxiety. They learned that speaking the truth is essential, but that the truth that needs to be said and heard is not the one most people call “truth.” They learned th