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In the Tiger's Mouth

For years, I taught workshops on time management and burnout. That was very satisfying work, but it dismayed me how organizations and individual pathologize some very natural, human responses to unhealthy working conditions. Staff would be sent to my workshop to be "fixed" and while many would return with healthier habits, some would make the bold decision that they needed a better place to work. When I could facilitate it, I always appreciated a healthy tension between those two outcomes. One of the books that helped me work with organizations that were prepared to take a more systemic approach was Katrina Shield's In the Tiger's Mouth: An Empowerment Guide for Social Action. With very little wasted space or fuzzy thinking, this is a book that will help any organization with sustainability. Posted: 10/19/05; 10:28:45 AM #

Wellness for Helping Professionals: Creating Compassionate Cultures

Back when I was running an organization called GoodWorks, where I often consulted on issues of organizational health, one of the books that had the greatest influence on me was Wellness for Helping Professionals: Creating Compassionate Cultures, by John Travis and Meryn Callander. The book is a dense compendium of practical resources for anyone with a commitment to following Gandhi's advice to "be the change you want to see in the world". The book has a fair share of fluffy thinking, but to this day, the contents continue to surprise me with their value. The organizational assessment tools and techniques for cultural analysis are particularly useful. Posted: 10/19/05; 10:20:43 AM #