Further Readings
One of my hobbies is reading textbooks. This is a selection of favorites:
Everyone these days is talking about the increasing complexity in corporations. One of the underlying reasons is a lack of > trust resulting in excessive control mechanisms. Control mechanisms as instruments of power? It is increasingly common, but unfortunately the polar opposite of a trusting company culture. As early as 1968, the sociologist and social theorist Niklas Luhmann delivered a sociological analysis of trust (= "Vertrauen"). He sees trust as a mechanism for reducing complexity in the company.
Published back in 1997 but still highly applicable today, Pfeiffer’s scientific work deals with the strategic management of technological innovations. The book shows what thought patterns, principles and methods will let us invent the future: Why is the ”first philosophy“ so important in innovative competition? What do time traps, pre-control, and time constants in preparation have to do with innovation management? Why must the market be defined in functional-abstract and not phenomenological terms? Innovations must be examined from a (technical) potential-oriented perspective as well as from a (market) needs-oriented viewpoint. Both vantage points are crucial when dealing with innovation.
The title describes the content of the book perfectly. It is really about a map of the soul. What goes on inside our minds? How do we control our thoughts? What do we do consciously, and what (and this is by far the bigger part) do we do subconsciously? It is about understanding the what, why and how. This is an exciting book that gave me, a fan of business management textbooks, some interestingly different insights