Gil Friend’s Blog
REGISTER NOW: Living Between Worlds, with Grace, Dignity, and Power—April 21, noon PT
People are hungry for meaningful conversations—that move worlds. Let's have some! Last year, in the early days of the pandemic, some 500 people joined me for a series of online conversations about COVID, the climate crisis, and "living with grace, calm and power in a...
My most recent interview: Purpose, Courage, the SDGs, and creating new worlds
Sandra Pina of Quiero/Madrid interviews me about purpose, courage, the SDGs, and creating new worlds—and new ways of doing business that serve both stakeholders and the living systems of this planet, on which all we value depends.
“It just spiraled out of control”
I just watched Greta Thunberg's recent interview with the Financial Times. Greta seems not to be trapped by the past (in the ways that most of us are) in her calls to “treat the crisis as a crisis,” not as a call to improve and "do better." “We need to stop focusing...
News & Thoughts: The Certainty of Uncertainty, and The Problem with Purpose
"The ultimate, hidden truth of the world, is that it is something that we make, and could just as easily make differently." —David Graeber, RIP Happy new year, and welcome back—to a year that we all hope is really new—and that is already busy shaking us up! (I love...
Is it VUCA yet? Changing At The Speed of Now.
Please join me Tuesday, June 16, 12:30p-2:00p Pacific Time for the fifth in our series of online conversations, exploring how we all might live with grace, calm, and power in this VUCA world—and help guide what Dr. Fernando Flores calls the "reconfiguration of...
While Covid grips our minds…the climate crisis looms not far behind
How shall we live, in the midst of what Equilibrium Capital CEO Dave Chen calls "a live-fire rehearsal for climate change"? While Covid grips our minds, the climate crisis looms not far behind. They may seem different on their face but they share common roots, common...
“The only way out is through”— Reflections on covid, climate, crisis, contingency, and cultivation
[Originally posted on LinkedIn] The pandemic’s risks arise in at least three dimensions: medical; psychological; social/political. And a challenge arises for each of us in one very particular dimension: What do we do now, those of us who don’t hold front-line...
Walking the Talk: What the CEO “Purpose of Business” Declaration Is — and What It Isn’t
[This article was originally posted on LinkedIn August 23, 2019; join the discussion there.] Walking the talk begins with the talk. But you've got to walk. <tl;dr> Milton Friedman was wrong. Purpose matters. "The 'it’s only business,' profit-above-all focus...
Just added: Nora Bateson & Gil Friend: Warm Data at the Edge of Now
On April 2, Nora Bateson and Gil Friend will meet at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco for A Conversation at the Edge of Now, (the first in a new series from Natural Logic). It’s an honor to be invited to this venue of prestige and important conversations. So,...