Systems Community of Inquiry

Obliquity: those who succeed the most are those who take the oblique path, says John Kay.
> [In] John Kay’s Obliquity … The veteran Oxford University economist carefully examines the pathways that people and organizations follow to success, and finds, over and over, that those who succeed the most are those who take the oblique path. “If you want to go in one direction,” he writes, “the best route may involve going in another.”
> The companies that make the largest profits are not the ones that have profit maximization as their main goal, but rather those that try to do something well. The people who have the most wealth are not those who set out to become wealthy, but often those who have avoided money-making opportunities. The people found to be most happy are not those who have pursued happiness, but those who have struggled against challenges.

This reference was surfaced, with a comparison of styles by William Hague and John Baird, at ”The direct approach isn’t always most effective” | Doug Saunders | Nov. 26, 2011 | Globe and Mail at http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/opinion/the-direct-approach-isnt-always-most-effective/article2249830/

The British economist John Kay can be found at http://www.johnkay.com/