What do you think?
Rate this book
Indirect Work: A Regenerative Change Theory for Businesses, Communities, Institutions and Humans
Make a profound and lasting difference with your life. Start with understanding regenerative change.
It's within our grasp to transform with a paradigm of systematic change and ensure we affect every level of life. The possibilities of personal, organizational, and even global evolution are right before us.
In a time when meaningful change is limited by error-filled practices conceived before quantum science, outside wisdom communities, and without an understanding of living systems, it's time to re-think. Instead, embrace a theory based on the oldest and most proven way to create systemic change.
Combining over four decades of author Carol Sanford's research and experience with rich traditions of Indigenous and lineage sources and quantum cosmologies, Indirect Work translates living systems understanding into a practical human technology for daily life at home and work. Through foundational wisdom and exercises for self-discovery, this guide will illuminate your understanding of the unlimited power of regenerative change and how we can become agents for a world that works for all alive.
You're about to discover:
- How to develop your consciousness and engage as a systemic change agent for the success of life's systems working as a whole.
- Strategies to evolve an organizational culture to one smarter and more courageous at tackling change.
- Self-directed personal agency while considering the effects on other people and the world around you.
- On-demand, higher-level thinking to process how complex systems and circumstances are unfolding in real time.
- Better methods to break old patterns of working that lead to degenerative outcomes.
Shift your mind to work with counterintuitive transformation consistent with how living systems work. Get Indirect Work for a path to self-motivated, evolutionary change in service to a greater whole.
It's within our grasp to transform with a paradigm of systematic change and ensure we affect every level of life. The possibilities of personal, organizational, and even global evolution are right before us.
In a time when meaningful change is limited by error-filled practices conceived before quantum science, outside wisdom communities, and without an understanding of living systems, it's time to re-think. Instead, embrace a theory based on the oldest and most proven way to create systemic change.
Combining over four decades of author Carol Sanford's research and experience with rich traditions of Indigenous and lineage sources and quantum cosmologies, Indirect Work translates living systems understanding into a practical human technology for daily life at home and work. Through foundational wisdom and exercises for self-discovery, this guide will illuminate your understanding of the unlimited power of regenerative change and how we can become agents for a world that works for all alive.
You're about to discover:
- How to develop your consciousness and engage as a systemic change agent for the success of life's systems working as a whole.
- Strategies to evolve an organizational culture to one smarter and more courageous at tackling change.
- Self-directed personal agency while considering the effects on other people and the world around you.
- On-demand, higher-level thinking to process how complex systems and circumstances are unfolding in real time.
- Better methods to break old patterns of working that lead to degenerative outcomes.
Shift your mind to work with counterintuitive transformation consistent with how living systems work. Get Indirect Work for a path to self-motivated, evolutionary change in service to a greater whole.
141 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 22, 2022
34 people are currently reading
727 people want to read
About the author
Carol Sanford
12 books54 followersCarol is recognized as a Global Thought Leader by Conscious Company Media & Athena Awards for Mentoring and Community Service to small businesses. A Senior Fellow of Social Innovation, Babson College; CEO, The Regenerative Paradigm Institute, Educator and Social Change designer for people in change agents roles, organizational leaders who aspire to make a difference, business and organizational teams pursuing non-displaceability. Author of seven award-winning, best-selling books, including The Regenerative Life: Transform Any Organization, Our Society, Your Destiny, No More Feedback, The Regenerative Business (Google VP, Michiel Bakker, foreword.) All seven books are built around case stories of specific transformations in people, businesses, communities, and regions. Exec Producer, The Regenerative Business Summit and Producer & Narrator of, Business Second Opinion Podcast..
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
December 30, 2023
I've been obsessed with the Chicago Bulls since I was a young kid. I read this without knowing how it would correlate with that. It's actually refreshing and eye opening. Who we are, how we see things and what we do has a huge impact on not only our lives but other's lives. This is a great and inspiring book that has great take away for those needing some motivation and direction in life. I loved it!
I won this book from a Goodreads giveaway. All of the statements above are my true opinions after fully reading this book.
I won this book from a Goodreads giveaway. All of the statements above are my true opinions after fully reading this book.
March 26, 2022
This is a really good book.
Indirect Work serves as a Resource — a kind of key to Sanford's five other books.
Never before had I been able to see so clearly how a theory of change (invisible w/o reflection) lies in the background, working all the while influencing my designs, the instruments i select, and where in the system intervention. How did I miss this!? Really gets me going to consider the potential.
A huge mental shift is involved in what Sanford is proposing. Fortunately, the intermezzo exercises (deceptively simple at first) were rigorous, powerful enough that I was able to arrive at a new understand in terms of theory of change, seeing the potential of working at this level of upstream design, backwards from effects. Indirect Work is way more exciting than I had been led to believe.
I plan to return to the section where Sanford explores culture. To what is status given. Totem in organizational culture (re)generation. Ritualizing development. Inner and Outer Work. Living Systems Thinking. The 7 First Principles of Regeneration. The Four (4) Caveats offered by Socrates, Albert Einstein, Thomas Kuhn, David Bohm. More to explore.
Indirect Work leaves me curious to discovery about ***what else is operating in the background*** of my designs, and what I'm unconsciously being worked by, a paradigm blindness, and over time generate greater coherence between intention and effect. Sanford delivers on her stated aim to make Indirect Work "intelligible and useful". Deep Work.
#IndirectWork #Regeneration #WorkDesign #TheoryofChange #Business #ChangeManagement #OrganizationalChange #LivingSystems
Indirect Work serves as a Resource — a kind of key to Sanford's five other books.
Never before had I been able to see so clearly how a theory of change (invisible w/o reflection) lies in the background, working all the while influencing my designs, the instruments i select, and where in the system intervention. How did I miss this!? Really gets me going to consider the potential.
A huge mental shift is involved in what Sanford is proposing. Fortunately, the intermezzo exercises (deceptively simple at first) were rigorous, powerful enough that I was able to arrive at a new understand in terms of theory of change, seeing the potential of working at this level of upstream design, backwards from effects. Indirect Work is way more exciting than I had been led to believe.
I plan to return to the section where Sanford explores culture. To what is status given. Totem in organizational culture (re)generation. Ritualizing development. Inner and Outer Work. Living Systems Thinking. The 7 First Principles of Regeneration. The Four (4) Caveats offered by Socrates, Albert Einstein, Thomas Kuhn, David Bohm. More to explore.
Indirect Work leaves me curious to discovery about ***what else is operating in the background*** of my designs, and what I'm unconsciously being worked by, a paradigm blindness, and over time generate greater coherence between intention and effect. Sanford delivers on her stated aim to make Indirect Work "intelligible and useful". Deep Work.
#IndirectWork #Regeneration #WorkDesign #TheoryofChange #Business #ChangeManagement #OrganizationalChange #LivingSystems
April 1, 2022
Not quite true. I wrote it
Read
August 2, 2022“Indirect Work” offers fundamental ideas housed amongst the backdrop of coach Phil Jackson’s legacy, coaching the Chicago Bulls during their championship runs. Within an otherwise reflective and immersive read stemming from the author’s concern towards the ways societies are currently pursuing change, author Carol Sanford shows us how transforming ourselves and the way we see, be, and act in the world is the only way true change can occur.
Sanford is genius in using the coaching methods Phil Jackson used on his run with the Chicago Bulls in their pursuit of championships in comparing and offering new ways to think about creating change. Coming off the success of several Chicago Bulls documentaries and basketball’s rise in popular media thanks to HBO and several other studios increasing their NBA exposure, the use of a history making sports achievement is the perfect way to ground her teachings within a relatable and real-world example of success. By doing so, readers can more deeply connect with the thought processes and challenges in making room for new ways to approach change. Through observation and evolution in one’s thinking, “Indirect Work” offers readers the opportunity and potential to create change.
Throughout the chapters, Sanford discusses Jackson’s holistic coaching approach, rather than the traditional methods we’ve come to associate with professional sports. For instance, Jackson took non-traditional routes to teaching lessons in practices, such as dimming the lights to engage more senses and evoke a deeper sense of trust and teamwork. Using the story of Phil Jackson’s upbringing and rise to fame as the head coach of the Chicago Bulls, Sanford is able to loosely tie back these transformative coaching practices to her own insights for transformative change.
Each chapter uniquely included an intermezzo, or a reflective type of journaling to engage the mind and root the reader even further into the concepts being presented. These intermezzos were used to “evoke conscious participation and critical thinking rather than passive information consumption” (p. 109). Every step of this book, every chapter, intermezzos, and story within was done with clear purpose by the author. No stone is left unturned as Sanford seeks to provide readers with the power to change how they experience the world and approach change
Sanford is genius in using the coaching methods Phil Jackson used on his run with the Chicago Bulls in their pursuit of championships in comparing and offering new ways to think about creating change. Coming off the success of several Chicago Bulls documentaries and basketball’s rise in popular media thanks to HBO and several other studios increasing their NBA exposure, the use of a history making sports achievement is the perfect way to ground her teachings within a relatable and real-world example of success. By doing so, readers can more deeply connect with the thought processes and challenges in making room for new ways to approach change. Through observation and evolution in one’s thinking, “Indirect Work” offers readers the opportunity and potential to create change.
Throughout the chapters, Sanford discusses Jackson’s holistic coaching approach, rather than the traditional methods we’ve come to associate with professional sports. For instance, Jackson took non-traditional routes to teaching lessons in practices, such as dimming the lights to engage more senses and evoke a deeper sense of trust and teamwork. Using the story of Phil Jackson’s upbringing and rise to fame as the head coach of the Chicago Bulls, Sanford is able to loosely tie back these transformative coaching practices to her own insights for transformative change.
Each chapter uniquely included an intermezzo, or a reflective type of journaling to engage the mind and root the reader even further into the concepts being presented. These intermezzos were used to “evoke conscious participation and critical thinking rather than passive information consumption” (p. 109). Every step of this book, every chapter, intermezzos, and story within was done with clear purpose by the author. No stone is left unturned as Sanford seeks to provide readers with the power to change how they experience the world and approach change
August 6, 2022
“Indirect Work” offers fundamental ideas housed amongst the backdrop of coach Phil Jackson’s legacy, coaching the Chicago Bulls during their championship runs. Within an otherwise reflective and immersive read stemming from the author’s concern towards the ways societies are currently pursuing change, author Carol Sanford shows us how transforming ourselves and the way we see, be, and act in the world is the only way true change can occur.
Sanford is genius in using the coaching methods Phil Jackson used on his run with the Chicago Bulls in their pursuit of championships in comparing and offering new ways to think about creating change. Coming off the success of several Chicago Bulls documentaries and basketball’s rise in popular media thanks to HBO and several other studios increasing their NBA exposure, the use of a history making sports achievement is the perfect way to ground her teachings within a relatable and real-world example of success. By doing so, readers can more deeply connect with the thought processes and challenges in making room for new ways to approach change. Through observation and evolution in one’s thinking, “Indirect Work” offers readers the opportunity and potential to create change.
Throughout the chapters, Sanford discusses Jackson’s holistic coaching approach, rather than the traditional methods we’ve come to associate with professional sports. For instance, Jackson took non-traditional routes to teaching lessons in practices, such as dimming the lights to engage more senses and evoke a deeper sense of trust and teamwork. Using the story of Phil Jackson’s upbringing and rise to fame as the head coach of the Chicago Bulls, Sanford is able to loosely tie back these transformative coaching practices to her own insights for transformative change.
Each chapter uniquely included an intermezzo, or a reflective type of journaling to engage the mind and root the reader even further into the concepts being presented. These intermezzos were used to “evoke conscious participation and critical thinking rather than passive information consumption” (p. 109). Every step of this book, every chapter, intermezzos, and story within was done with clear purpose by the author. No stone is left unturned as Sanford seeks to provide readers with the power to change how they experience the world and approach change.
Sanford is genius in using the coaching methods Phil Jackson used on his run with the Chicago Bulls in their pursuit of championships in comparing and offering new ways to think about creating change. Coming off the success of several Chicago Bulls documentaries and basketball’s rise in popular media thanks to HBO and several other studios increasing their NBA exposure, the use of a history making sports achievement is the perfect way to ground her teachings within a relatable and real-world example of success. By doing so, readers can more deeply connect with the thought processes and challenges in making room for new ways to approach change. Through observation and evolution in one’s thinking, “Indirect Work” offers readers the opportunity and potential to create change.
Throughout the chapters, Sanford discusses Jackson’s holistic coaching approach, rather than the traditional methods we’ve come to associate with professional sports. For instance, Jackson took non-traditional routes to teaching lessons in practices, such as dimming the lights to engage more senses and evoke a deeper sense of trust and teamwork. Using the story of Phil Jackson’s upbringing and rise to fame as the head coach of the Chicago Bulls, Sanford is able to loosely tie back these transformative coaching practices to her own insights for transformative change.
Each chapter uniquely included an intermezzo, or a reflective type of journaling to engage the mind and root the reader even further into the concepts being presented. These intermezzos were used to “evoke conscious participation and critical thinking rather than passive information consumption” (p. 109). Every step of this book, every chapter, intermezzos, and story within was done with clear purpose by the author. No stone is left unturned as Sanford seeks to provide readers with the power to change how they experience the world and approach change.
December 22, 2024
The cure for regen fragmentation?
Having been in the regen space for more than 12 years, I’ve been searching for answers that address the fragmentation and lack of impact the field is known for. Sanford nails it in this book by simply saying (paraphrased) that it’s not about systems change, it’s about culture change and culture cannot be changed directly.
While the book is masterfully written, the biggest value comes from engaging (deeply) in the reflective exercises. So many profound insights flow through this process. My only regret is that I didn’t make time to read this book as soon as I received it.
Highly recommended for all well-intentioned change agents who yearn for deeper impact.
Having been in the regen space for more than 12 years, I’ve been searching for answers that address the fragmentation and lack of impact the field is known for. Sanford nails it in this book by simply saying (paraphrased) that it’s not about systems change, it’s about culture change and culture cannot be changed directly.
While the book is masterfully written, the biggest value comes from engaging (deeply) in the reflective exercises. So many profound insights flow through this process. My only regret is that I didn’t make time to read this book as soon as I received it.
Highly recommended for all well-intentioned change agents who yearn for deeper impact.
August 15, 2024
Proposes good frameworks on how to see systems and organizations as a continuous whole and not breaking them down into discrete pieces.
It’s a valuable read, but I didn’t love it since it is a little dense and repetitive. It’s very meta, where the author describes how you as the reader should be interacting with the text. I find that can be a little arrogant-feeling, since she assumes that I being the reader will exist in a certain state.
All in all, the author is a beast and clearly very smart. I’ll probably read it again in 10 years.
It’s a valuable read, but I didn’t love it since it is a little dense and repetitive. It’s very meta, where the author describes how you as the reader should be interacting with the text. I find that can be a little arrogant-feeling, since she assumes that I being the reader will exist in a certain state.
All in all, the author is a beast and clearly very smart. I’ll probably read it again in 10 years.
April 2, 2022
Inspiring and encouraging book with a lot of useful information. Improving oneself is something we all want and this book is a great start towards the goal of achieving higher results. What I liked about it is that the tips shared in this book can be used in the everyday life as well as in the business. I highly recommend.
March 26, 2022
Indirect Work by Carol Sanford is a book everyone should read. The concepts are truly helpful and the writing is easy to follow and understand.
July 21, 2022
"The freedom of the warrior is a freedom for the tribe, not a freedom from restrictions."
In this slim but powerful volume and Amazon #1 best-seller, award-winning business educator Sanford builds upon her five previous books and over three decades of research into human consciousness via time-honored indigenous teachings, lineage teachings, and quantum cosmology. Her timely reflections on how change occurs demonstrate that groups, businesses, institutions, and even individuals can facilitate and nurture transformation. As a concrete example of her philosophy of indirect teaching in this book, Sanford often refers to Phil Jackson, who developed similar strategies in his coaching philosophy with the Chicago Bulls. His work brought the team from a long losing streak to remarkable success by guiding players, including the inimitable Michael Jordan, to "develop consciousness of the interdependence of individual and team," as Sanford describes it. Later, Jackson also employed his techniques with the Los Angeles Lakers and helped shape the careers of Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O'Neal, and many others.
The familiar and popular basketball team allegories help illustrate the principles that Sanford clearly and methodically presents in the eight chapters and eight intermezzos. Sanford's musical and theatrical term for the reflective breaks encourages readers to respond in writing to specific questions related to each chapter narrative to develop self-observation and self-discovery connected to the readings. The author emphasizes the importance of doing these creative exercises before moving on to the next chapter. In addition to stressing the importance of the intermezzos, the first chapter, "A New Map," explores the theory of change, first from her viewpoint of examining her old teaching strategies versus interpreting what she was seeing her client participants achieving via non-hierarchical, shared purposes and the indirect work of inner transformation. . .
Read more at The US Review of Books!
https://www.theusreview.com/reviews-1...
In this slim but powerful volume and Amazon #1 best-seller, award-winning business educator Sanford builds upon her five previous books and over three decades of research into human consciousness via time-honored indigenous teachings, lineage teachings, and quantum cosmology. Her timely reflections on how change occurs demonstrate that groups, businesses, institutions, and even individuals can facilitate and nurture transformation. As a concrete example of her philosophy of indirect teaching in this book, Sanford often refers to Phil Jackson, who developed similar strategies in his coaching philosophy with the Chicago Bulls. His work brought the team from a long losing streak to remarkable success by guiding players, including the inimitable Michael Jordan, to "develop consciousness of the interdependence of individual and team," as Sanford describes it. Later, Jackson also employed his techniques with the Los Angeles Lakers and helped shape the careers of Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O'Neal, and many others.
The familiar and popular basketball team allegories help illustrate the principles that Sanford clearly and methodically presents in the eight chapters and eight intermezzos. Sanford's musical and theatrical term for the reflective breaks encourages readers to respond in writing to specific questions related to each chapter narrative to develop self-observation and self-discovery connected to the readings. The author emphasizes the importance of doing these creative exercises before moving on to the next chapter. In addition to stressing the importance of the intermezzos, the first chapter, "A New Map," explores the theory of change, first from her viewpoint of examining her old teaching strategies versus interpreting what she was seeing her client participants achieving via non-hierarchical, shared purposes and the indirect work of inner transformation. . .
Read more at The US Review of Books!
https://www.theusreview.com/reviews-1...
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews