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Staying Sane in a Changing World: A Handbook for Work, Leadership & Life in the 21st Century
Staying Sane in a Changing World is a handbook for aspiring young leaders to navigate the constantly changing world of corporate management. In this inspiring series of essays, reflections and thought-starters, Margot Cairnes provides new ways of looking at a range of issues - from work, to leadership, to spirituality and family life, and how they interconnect.
250 pages, Paperback
First published April 27, 2004
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April 17, 2012
I find it remarkable that for all the reading I do in this area I come across so few women whose names I already know. And yet the quality of the ideas and the range of application that women produce is so much more profound than the ideas from some of the ‘top speakers’. This realisation has made me think about how this comes about.
It seems to me the nature of media now is bombarding with short messages, and that those messages get repeated as the way to familiarity. But it does not necessarily give any sense of depth, or even ‘knowing’ at all. It is the ‘one look wonder’ – an image that is instantly recognisable, without any meaning having to be attached at all. It is a shame we have allowed this to come about, because the effort to discover what is truly worthwhile in a sense becomes greater to get past all the layers of ‘thin’.
Nevertheless I have discovered Margot Cairnes and I am glad.
Just to read her bio before opening to her words of wisdom is inspirational. ‘Highly successful futurist’, chair of The Change Dynamic international leadership consultancy, and patron of Leadership Without Borders for humanitarian projects. And then in the Acknowledgements she produced this book ‘in collaboration with her daughter and research assistant’. Here is someone who lives into the ideas she considers and brings others with her.
The book is a very simple format which demonstrates this. Rather than long chapters which become repetitive to remind you of everything covered by the time they set some tasks for you to apply yourself to, each article is a page and a half to three pages in length. Then three of four questions gauge your response before moving on to the next segment. Language is carefully presented, such as “achieving, as opposed to winning”. The mind shift is present in the heading. You are already beginning to consider what that means for yourself before even reading the anecdote about the relationship between a woman and her husband. This dexterity is used with more or less subtlety throughout the range of home, work and political or cultural issues which the book purveys.
This structure allows ease of reference for one’s own work, but also extracting a topic or exercise for groups to discuss and work on together. For instance, one organization I sit on the board of has occasional lunches to discuss feminist issues among the staff. Generally readings are chosen and the staff member who makes the selection guides discussion with their own questions. Margot Cairnes makes it easy for anyone to introduce such topics into such settings for those who have yet to commit themselves to more formal discussions groups, as well as accessible at the highest levels of an organization.
Change makes those who are furthest from their own education struggle with the new ways of learning and the content and methods of learning which others are introduced to without the burden of more structured and restrictive ways of thinking. Discussions across organizations and groups into the community keep all of us fresh without necessarily having to invest in formal and costly education. It is through such living education, rather than remote and institutionalised ideas that we all become co-creators of the conditions and the world we wish to live in. Rather than dictated to, we become engaged and part of, the decisions which are made and the ways in which they are implemented.
It all comes down to the final page: “If we take the agenda off what we do and put it on how we contribute, we can regain our dignity and self-respect from knowing that we make a difference.”
I will be looking up the www.margotcairnes.com website to find out more about when and where she speaks as well as what she writes. I suggest you do too.
It seems to me the nature of media now is bombarding with short messages, and that those messages get repeated as the way to familiarity. But it does not necessarily give any sense of depth, or even ‘knowing’ at all. It is the ‘one look wonder’ – an image that is instantly recognisable, without any meaning having to be attached at all. It is a shame we have allowed this to come about, because the effort to discover what is truly worthwhile in a sense becomes greater to get past all the layers of ‘thin’.
Nevertheless I have discovered Margot Cairnes and I am glad.
Just to read her bio before opening to her words of wisdom is inspirational. ‘Highly successful futurist’, chair of The Change Dynamic international leadership consultancy, and patron of Leadership Without Borders for humanitarian projects. And then in the Acknowledgements she produced this book ‘in collaboration with her daughter and research assistant’. Here is someone who lives into the ideas she considers and brings others with her.
The book is a very simple format which demonstrates this. Rather than long chapters which become repetitive to remind you of everything covered by the time they set some tasks for you to apply yourself to, each article is a page and a half to three pages in length. Then three of four questions gauge your response before moving on to the next segment. Language is carefully presented, such as “achieving, as opposed to winning”. The mind shift is present in the heading. You are already beginning to consider what that means for yourself before even reading the anecdote about the relationship between a woman and her husband. This dexterity is used with more or less subtlety throughout the range of home, work and political or cultural issues which the book purveys.
This structure allows ease of reference for one’s own work, but also extracting a topic or exercise for groups to discuss and work on together. For instance, one organization I sit on the board of has occasional lunches to discuss feminist issues among the staff. Generally readings are chosen and the staff member who makes the selection guides discussion with their own questions. Margot Cairnes makes it easy for anyone to introduce such topics into such settings for those who have yet to commit themselves to more formal discussions groups, as well as accessible at the highest levels of an organization.
Change makes those who are furthest from their own education struggle with the new ways of learning and the content and methods of learning which others are introduced to without the burden of more structured and restrictive ways of thinking. Discussions across organizations and groups into the community keep all of us fresh without necessarily having to invest in formal and costly education. It is through such living education, rather than remote and institutionalised ideas that we all become co-creators of the conditions and the world we wish to live in. Rather than dictated to, we become engaged and part of, the decisions which are made and the ways in which they are implemented.
It all comes down to the final page: “If we take the agenda off what we do and put it on how we contribute, we can regain our dignity and self-respect from knowing that we make a difference.”
I will be looking up the www.margotcairnes.com website to find out more about when and where she speaks as well as what she writes. I suggest you do too.
Displaying 1 of 1 review