Confronting Our Freedom (eBook)

PETER BLOCK is a writer and consultant working in the areas of chosen accountability, the reconciliation of community, and restoring the common good. He is the author of nine books, including the bestselling Flawless Consulting, Stewardship, and Community: The Structure of Belonging. PETER KOESTENBAUM is a renowned existential philosopher and the founder and chairman of Philosophy in Business and the Koestenbaum Institute. After a career in academia, he worked as a business consultant and leadership coach for major companies around the world, including Ford, IBM, Novartis, Citibank, Volvo, Amoco, and more. His most recent book-length work includes The Heart of Business: Ethics, Power, and Philosophy and Leadership: The Inner Side of Greatness.

Preface

Prologue: Then Was the Moment

The past is not past

What lies ahead

Introduction: The Philosophic Insight

Conversations on freedom and accountability

The view from where we are

Parenting is the origin story of management and leadership

Shifting the historical context

Philosophic insight in the world of organized effort

The existential understanding

I The Power and Structure of Freedom

Rewards

Freedom, reality, choice, and will

Accepting our freedom

The fundamental insight

Implications: The Forms of Freedom

Choice, reality, and will

II The Potential of Anxiety

The fruits of your patience

Solving anxiety

The promise of anxiety

The language of freedom: It is an inside job

Shifting the context to freedom and accountability

Implications: Anxiety as an ally of accountability both central to performance in a time of permanent uncertainty

The permanent condition

Being conscious

III Speaking of Death and Evil

Death is an option

A storm in the shelter

Facing reality. Taking charge of our life.

A summary of usefulness of the reality of death

Final facts

The presence of evil

Denying the reality of evil

Do no harm

Implications: failure, fear, death, and evil

IV Fully Human Organizations

Guilty as chosen and guilty as charged

The Sound of freedom

Reversing the illusion of clear roles and expectations

Not enough

Our expectations

What are we to do?

Real and chosen accountability? Fully human organizations

Epilogue

References and Background Reading

Acknowledgments

About the Authors

Index

About Designed Learning