by David Hutchens

Big Ideas, Simply Presented
Whether writing about organizational learning, complexity theory, leadership or even a bunch of strange childrens stories, David approaches each subject with a copywriter's ear for clarity... and a refreshing sensitivity to the overworked folks who usually hate reading this kind of stuff.

Take a few minutes to explore some of David's more popular articles, below.

Telling Stories, Making Meaning
Following the widespread response to David Hutchens series of "Learning Fables," Leverage Points magazine interviewed him on the subject of narrative, metaphor, and organizational learning. Ever wondered why David writes those weird business books with talking sheep and lemmings in them? Here's a peek into what he was thinking.

Harnessing "Eureka Power"
People learn by doing. That's the simple principle behind a revolution in training and communications that is long overdue in the corporate world. In this article, David writes about the emerging field of Discovery Learning. In addition, the case study at Kimberly-Clark details solutions that David helped develop with Paradigm Learning.

Leadership Beyond the Baseline
It's about time. After years of adhering to a traditional model, thinking about leadership in organizations is undergoing an important renaissance. Developed in partnership with Dr. Pat Gill Webber, this article (originally sponsored by Paradigm Learning) provides a rich overview of how leadership thinking has evolved... and also suggests tantalizing possibilities of where it might be going.

Eight Principles of Complexity
What would happen if we approached our organizations as if they were living systems? The implications are rich. Here, David Hutchens explores nine principles for leading and living in a complex adaptive system. (These insights from complexity science are drawn from David's work with Plexus Institute, where he helped to develop the pioneering resource "Edgeplace: Complexity Insights for Health Care Leaders." To visit Edgeplace, click here.)

Fostering Trust in Organizations: The Prisoner's Dilemma
This essay is a digest of a presentation by Bob Axelrod, Ph.D., a United Nations Negotiator who delivered this material at the 1999 VHA Leadership Conference in Orlando, Florida. Drawing from his own pioneering work in game theory, Dr. Axelrod examines the famous "Prisoners Dilemma" scenario to explore how we can learn from natural systems and even trench warfare to attend to the damaged trust that exists in organizations.

Relationships in Complex Adaptive Systems
There's a lot of talk going on about complexity theory and complex adaptive systems. While the ideas make for great dinner conversation, many are still left wondering: "but what about the people in these organizations?" In this essay, based on a presentation by the engaging Dr. Ralph Stacey, the important role of relationships between the people in a complex adaptive system is explored.

The New World of Corporate Responsibility
A draft of a speech prepared for the CEO of a Fortune 100 company. To learn more about David Hutchens' executive speechwriting services, click here.

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