The New Ecology of Leadership - (Columbia Business School Publishing) by David Hurst (Paperback)

About the Book

David K. Hurst has spent twenty-five years as an operating manager, often handling crises and turnaround conditions, and is also a widely experienced consultant, teacher, and writer on business topics and issues. This book is his innovative integration of management practice and theory, using a systems perspective and analogies drawn from nature to illustrate groundbreaking ideas and their real-world application. Hurst's objective is to help readers make meaning from their own management experience and education, and to encourage improvement in their practical judgment and wisdom. His core argument is that the human mind is rational in an ecological, rather than a logical, sense. He supports his case with an approach that connects the development of organizations to humankind's evolutionary heritage and cultural history. Contexts matter, and Hurst shows how passion, reason, and power can be used to change and sustain organizations for good and ill.

Book Synopsis

David Hurst has a unique knowledge of organizations--their function and their failure--both in theory and in practice. He has spent twenty-five years as an operating manager, often in crises and turnaround conditions, and is also a widely experienced consultant, teacher, and writer on business. This book is his innovative integration of management practice and theory, using a systems perspective and analogies drawn from nature to illustrate groundbreaking ideas and their practical application. It is designed for readers unfamiliar with sophisticated management concepts and for active practitioners seeking to advance their management and leadership skills.

Hurst's objective is to help readers make meaning from their own management experience and education, and to encourage improvement in their practical judgment and wisdom. His approach takes an expansive view of organizations, connecting their development to humankind's evolutionary heritage and cultural history. It locates the origins of organizations in communities of trust and follows their development and maturation. He also crucially tracks the decline of organizations as they age and shows how their strengths become weaknesses in changing circumstances.

Hurst's core argument is that the human mind is rational in an ecological, rather than a logical, sense. In other words, it has evolved to extract cues to action from the specific situations in which it finds itself. Therefore contexts matter, and Hurst shows how passion, reason, and power can be used to change and sustain organizations for good and ill. The result is an inspirational synthesis of management theory and practice that will resonate with every reader's experience.

Review Quotes

A thoughtful, eclectic look at organizations.-- "Globe & Mail"

At the core of effectiveness is the ability to anticipate the future. This book provides the tools for doing exactly that. It is a must read.--Robert E. Quinn, Ross School of Business, University of Michigan

Don't jump to the end of this book. Let David K. Hurst unfold for you, chapter by chapter, what might otherwise appear a complex model for organizational change. As you absorb his logic you will be inspired by the elegance of his 'Ecocycle.' He weaves together proven managerial concepts with insights from cognitive science, psychology, ecology, history, and philosophy into an entirely intuitive and eye-opening perspective for leadership.--Kaihan Krippendorff, author of Outthink the Competition: How a New Generation of Strategists Sees Options Others Ignore

In this outstanding book, David K. Hurst draws on his very considerable executive experience and combines it with a sophisticated understanding of the latest in academic thinking. The New Ecology of Leadership will appeal to both the 'roll up your sleeves' manager and the grounded academic.--Karl Moore, Desautels Faculty of Management, McGill University

About the Author

David K. Hurst is a speaker, consultant, writer, and management educator with extensive experience as a senior executive and an encyclopedic knowledge of management thought. He is an adjunct professor at the University of Regina's Kenneth Levene Graduate School of Business, associated with the Center for Creative Leadership, and a contributing editor at Strategy+Business.