GENTLE ACTION

How do we build a better world for our children, our businesses, our society and ourselves? F. David Peat's latest book provides a clear answer: How to exercise more effective, creative and non-invasive action from the local to the international level. Gentle Action shows ways in which businesses can respond more effectively to a changing market place: How organizations, policy groups and communities can grow more flexible, responsive and sensitive to the world around them.

In a world that is ever more complex in terms of economics, globalized markets, social change, international conflicts, poverty, disease and environmental degradation we often feel that we are in danger of losing control. As a result individuals, businesses and organizations experience a sense of urgency to react when things appear to be going wrong. But so often these actions, taken with the best of intentions, turn out to have a negative effect. The key issue is that we tend to treat situations as being external to ourselves rather than realizing that the issues we face today can only be solved from the inside. With Gentle Action these situations can be transformed from within.

The book will be an invaluable resource for everyone from CEOs, policy makers, community leaders, opinion makers, aid organizations, business groups, consultants and politicians as well as teachers and parents. It shows just how and why things can go wrong when well meaning but inappropriate actions are taken. It provides a wide variety of highly successful examples of Gentle Actions in operation and how the creative intervention of a single person can end up being more effective than an aid program organized by a multimillion-dollar organization.

Each chapter presents a series of questions and challenges for the readers leading to ways in which they can bring creative change to their community or organization.