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Ascendant

tel: +353 1 2818063
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email: tom.lane@ascendant.ie
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Articles written by Tom Lane

This page is regularly updated, so please check back periodically for additions. I hope you find the contents interesting and informative and welcome your feedback.

Why the EU/IMF Loan to Ireland
Bailing out the Irish Banks. A series of animations explaining how banking works and a proposal for reform

The Gift Economy
A new way of looking at exchange
The Global Derivatives Casino Overview of derivatives, an underlying cause of the financial crisis
What elephant? Let's wake up to the fact that the financial system needs to be replaced

Money for Nothing

Outlines how the credit crunch was caused by private debt-based money-creation and argues for a reform of our monetary system
Sub Prime Fiasco - Where to Now? The collapse of the neo-liberal agenda
Irish Ferries An example of the race to the bottom caused by globalisation and our participation in it
Democracy++ Why parlimentary 'democracy' is an illusion and why we need to create real democracy
How does the Feldenkrais Method work? (PDF) Explores how the body-mind system can reorganise and heal itself when given relevant information
The Sales Versus Engineering Problem   The importance of cooperation, communication and a balance of power between the technical and commercial sides of an organisation
Software Engineering versus Open Source Why so many software projects fail and what can be learned from the Open Source community model
Integral Organisation Development (PDF)   Applying the Integral Model to organisation development
Structural Faults (PDF) Explores how structure impacts the effectiveness of organisations
Groupthink (PDF)   Discusses how groupthink led to the invasion of Iraq. Particularly relevant when applied to the global financial crisis


Order and Chaos (PDF) Explores the area of creativity and tension at the edge of chaos
Management by Numbers (PDF) Managing business according to the spreadsheet is simple. But managing to make a positive difference is not so easy

Links to Articles on other sites
Towards a Twenty First Century Banking and Monetary system
Submission
to the UK Independent Commission on Banking by Positive Money, the New Economics Foundation and Prof Richard Werner. Very clear description of fractional reserve banking and a proposal for a simple, effective alternative.
Dollar Deception: How Banks Secretly Create Money
Explains how the creation of money has been privatized, a fraud so massive that it leaves governments and people at the mercy of private individuals
Options for Managing a Systemic Bank Crisis (PDF)
Provides a systemic analysis of the Banking Crisis, with an analysis of various proposal for addressing it
The Window of Authority (PDF)
Unclear, or inconsistent delineation of authority, induces apathy, low self-esteem and lack of responsibility in employees. This brief paper outlines how this can be avoided.
Outperferforming Through Values (Word)
Management Practices that sustain values not only deliver superior performance, they create organisations that benefit all stakeholders.
The Appreciative Self
A chapter from Clear Leadership: How Outstanding Leaders Make Themselves Understood, Cut Through Organizational Mush, and Help Everyone Get Real at Work, by Gervase Bushe
Stanford Project on Emerging Companies (RTF)
Lessons from a study of the impact of HR Practice, Organization Design, and Business Strategy on Firm Performance in 186 Silicon Valley high-tech startups.
Built to Flip (PDF)
Comments on the entitlement mindset fuelling the dot.com bubble, from Jim Collins, Co-author of Built to Last
CHAOS Report
A chronicle of software failures
The Tyranny of Structurelessness
This article provides useful insights into how informal power without accountability can be used oppressively in groups and organizations.
Positive Image, Positive Action: The Affirmative Basis of Organizing
There is no better clue of an organisation's well-being than its guiding image of the future. A chapter from Appreciative Inquiry: An Emerging Direction for Organization Development, by David L. Cooperrider
How to Fund a Startup
Very good introduction to funding rounds and how investors think.
The New Thought Police (Word)
How the corporations, the state and the scientific establishment are co-ordinating their efforts to suppress scientific dissent and force feed the world with GM crops.