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For anyone interested in transforming an
organisation, this book will expand your horizons.
From a
Western standpoint we are accustomed to a hierarchical management
style, with all decision-making power concentrated at the top.
Organisations with this type of structure may not survive several key
losses in the upper parts of the hierarchy. Treading Lightly shows us
another model, whereby different knowledeg areas are championed by
various parties within the organisation. A key feature of Aboriginal
society relates to sustainability and interconnectedness, currently
something about which we in the mainstream are only now really becoming
aware.For anyone interested in reshaping or transforming an
organisation, this is a book that will expand your horizons. Glen
Tindall, GAICD, Director Books, Australian Institute of Directors.
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I was initially sceptical... I
soon became absorbed in the book and fascinated.
When a
colleague gave me a copy I was initially sceptical...Yet, as I flicked
through the pages, I soon became absorbed in the book and fascinated by
the details of Aboriginal culture, and how deeply it is linked to the
sustainability of their way of life. As the authors point out,
indigenous Australians have the longest continuous cultural history in
the world. Mingled with fascination was a sort of national pride in
their achievements and shame that it has taken a Finnish professor of
knowledge management (Sveiby) to make me aware of them.
Richard Eckersley, founding
director of Australia
21, a non-profit, public-interest research company, and the author of Well
& Good: Morality, Meaning and Happiness Read full review
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"Sveiby has turned his attention to the
cradle of KM"
A
community-wide respect for knowledge gives knowledgeable individuals a
leadership role, although not a commanding position within the group.
The knowledge is prized rather then the individual. Observing
Aboriginal traditions through a knowledge-management prism makes for
interesting reading, and certainly reinforces the need for
human-to-human interaction to allow knowledge to flow. Treading Lightly
is something of an archaeological dig and as such will interest
knowledge management practitioners. For the rest of us it is a reminder
that knowledge management is a people rather than a technology issue
and that Australia was never terra nullus.
Beverley Head, Boss Magasine
November 2006 issue, Australian Financial Review.
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"One of the most
thought-provoking books I have read in the last few years".
This is one
of the most thought-provoking books I have read in the last few years.
It will amaze you that "stone-age" people have so much to offer to
help solve the problems facing us today.
Professor Brian Henshall in NZ
Knowledge Navigation - August 2006.
Read full review
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"A hopeful read, forcing you to
wonder if we could again achieve a sustained society."
Treading Lightly is
a hopeful read, forcing you to wonder if we could again achieve a
sustained society with economic, ecological, social and spiritual
elements, all focusing on the core mission to keep everyone alive.
Anita Heiss of the Wiradjuri
Nation in the Bulletin - September 2006.
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"A breakthrough book and a must read for
all leaders in business and government".
Skuthorpe
takes Sveiby on a journey of exploration ino how Aboriginal society was
built on respect for knowledge and Know-how. Treading Lightly is a
breakthrough book and a must read for all leaders in business and
government. Engineers Australia - August 2006
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"A supreme irony, that...modern
western society may well find..a blueprint."
It is an
uncanny historical reversal, a supreme irony, that, despite the
cataclysmic clash of cultures that resulted in the near annihilation of
Aboriginal Australia during the 19th century at
the hands of a "superior civilisation",modern western society may well
find in the traditions of the Nhunggabarra people a blueprint for
meeting the environmental and social challenges of the new millennium.
Richly illustrated with colour reproductions of Skuthorpe's paintings,
Treading Lightly culminates with a powerful and compelling vision for
sustainable societies and ecologies.
Janet Haynes, Australian Art
Review July - October 2006.
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"What makes it an exciting
book...are...the parallels with modern-day leadership."
What makes
it an exciting book is not simply the sensitive manner in
which the authors develop our understanding of aboriginal wisdom, but
the intricate, comprehensive yet accessible way that they draw the
parallels with modern-day leadership.
Dr. Paul G. Power, Director, Hay
Group on Amazon - July 2006. Read full
review
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"I was sceptical about this
approach at first. But as I read further..."
The approach taken
in the beginning of the book shows the reader how someone undertakes
the process of trying to better understand themselves and their
surroundings by using Indigenous knowledge.I must confess that I was
sceptical about this approach at first. But as I read
further I began to appreciate that Sveiby is, by using the four levels
of meaning in each story as his framework, genuinely trying to
understand the story within the world views of the Nhunggabarra. In
this way, the book becomes a fascinating cross-cultural dialogue where
the Aboriginal culture is more persuasive and as highly valued as the
culture of the person attempting the interpretation. National
Indigenous Times - July 27 2006. Read full review
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"Fascinating. The unique
approach confronts the reader with the need for action."
The book is
fascinating. An original story, intertwining ancient aboriginal wisdom
with a contemporary western world framework. The unique approach
confronts the reader with the need for action by drawing on the
philosophy and stories of the Nhunggabarra people over the past 20,000
years. They call for action at the individual and institutional levels
to build a sustainable future. James Guthrie, Professor,
University of
Sydney - May 12 2006.
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"This book is a 'signpost'."
This book is
a 'signpost'. For many of us who write and read about Aboriginal
histories and cultures, who are exposed to the various media portrayals
of Aboriginal cultures across our many nations within Australia and who
advocate (in our respective ways) for social justice for Aboriginal
peoples, the book 'Treading Lightly' teaches us. For those
who care about our communities and our Mother, the Earth, 'Treading
Lightly' teaches us.
Chris Evans of the Wiradjuri
People - lecturer at
University of Technology Sydney - June 6 2006.
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"Strongly recommended to all
teachers."
I read this
book while I was in Darwin attending the national English and
Literacy conference. Stories are read in many different ways depending
on the reader or listener. Critical literacy draws attention to
decoding texts in order to make meaning of them. Discovering the four
levels of meaning in Aboriginal myths in Treading Lightly is a timely
reminder that there is much more to stories than readers assume. It is
strongly recommended to all teachers, not just English teachers.
Duncan
How, State Moderator, English, Elizabeth College - Sept 2006.
Read full review.
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"It does provide a structured way of thinking about sustainability."
Unable to
escape our 'progress' paradigm, we search for explanations which
privilege progress; thus, the biological theory of evolution becomes a
social theory, Indigenous societies are presented as 'primitive' and/or
'inferior', and our cleverness is confirmed. But Sveiby asks: just how
clever is it to destroy one's own habitat? Of what benefit is
modernity, viewed from a holistic perspective? By questioning the
assumptions that underlie our present social structures, Sveiby's book
makes a valuable contribution to this school of thought, and to the
ongoing debate regarding our future. Its strength and its shortcoming
is its simplicity, and it could be accused of presenting an
oversimplified 'Aboriginal = good, European = bad' dichotomy. I don't
believe that was Sveiby's motivation in writing the book, however, and
it does provide a structured way of thinking about sustainability,
which much of the discourse to date has lacked.
Adelaide Bookshelf -
June 4 2006. Read full review
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"A must read for all leaders in
business and government."
"Australian
Aboriginal people created a sustainable society tens of thousands of
years ago. It maintained stability until European settlement. Karl-Erik
Sveiby and Tex Skuthorpe's breakthrough book “Treading Lightly†is
a must read for all leaders in business and government. The
Nhunggabarra developed a cutting edge knowledge management system that
integrated sustainability into the core of their societies
organisation. By following their recipe modern day leaders can
simultaneously unlock innovative potential and embed sustainability."
Stephen Gale, Sustainable Projects
Leader, The Hatch Group - June 10,
2006
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