Society

Brain of the firm

Media
The foundation book on System Science applied to organizations. This remind me my past life as process control engineer, tuning feedback loops to reach desired responsiveness and stability... Not an easy reading, but a dense and consistent material for matching many day to day observations on a consistent framework. The last chapters tells the Allende's Chile attempt to apply cybernetics law and models to shape its economy. As we know, the CIA did not let him finish the job.

Retour d'Iran

Je viens de passer 10 jours en Iran. Ce fut une expérience extraordinaire, bien que presque conforme à ce que j’attendais. Ce n’était pas le cas de mon entourage, famille, amis et collègues qui directement ou à mots couverts me considéraient comme un aventurier genre Indiana Jones partant affronter les dragons de l’Enfer. L’axe du Diable de G.W.Bush est bel est bien gravé pour longtemps dans les esprits, et B. Obama ne fait rien pour rassurer le reste du monde sous hypnose US (angélique comme il se doit).

What Would Google Do

Media
A clever analyze of the Google endeavor and some lessons for all of us. Google seems to be less idealized nowadays, but its contribution to changing the way of doing business and its dedication to Information are still dazzling. The recipes that Jeff Jarvis elaborates from the incredible Gogole story are not equally inspired, but I enjoyed a lot this book that is close to my view of sharing vs concealing.

The Fifth Discipline: The Art & Practice of The Learning Organization

Media
A scientific, system based study of the social organizations. This is an obvious, easy reading from the systems theory background. I found some commonalities with the "noosphere" concept of Teilhard de Chardin. Any leader / manager must read it. Apparently, nobody did, or every one of them miss the point.
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The Global Warming Affair

I am a fervent Nature lover. However, the global warming sudden frenzy hit my scepticism from the beginning.