Robert Fritz, Your Life as Art

I have two shelves put aside for my iconic Great Work texts. These are reserved for the books and the authors who I think have written something timeless and significant in how we can show up and do the work we should be doing.  Peter Senge’s there.  So is Peter Block.

And both these guys point to today’s guest, Robert Fritz, and say he’s a giant in this field. Actually, he’s a giant in two fields.  He spends some of his time working with large organizations.  And he spends some of that time as a composer and creator in the arts field, both making music and making films.  You can see the dual focus by the titles of his books.  One, The Managerial Moment of Truth.  Another, Your Life as Art.

In this wide-ranging discussion we talk about

• How Robert frames Great Work – be true to yourself – and what that really means
• The fact that organizations are amoral – what that means, and in particular what that means to you as a member of that organization
• Why “problem solving” is so seductive for managers – and how it gets in the way of Great Work
• The fundamental design of organizations, why that matters and what their real purpose is (it’s not “shareholder return”)

You can connect with Robert at www.RobertFritz.com

Listen to my interview with Robert Fritz

0:16 Michael introduces Robert Fritz

1:10 Robert’s books The Managerial Moment of Truth and Your Life as Art

3:27 How Robert frames Great Work – be true to yourself – and what that really means

4:19 The fact that organizations are amoral – what that means, and in particular what that means to you as a member of that organization

5:47 Why “problem solving” is so seductive for managers – and how it gets in the way of Great Work

10:40 The fundamental design of organizations, why that matters and what their real purpose is (it’s not “shareholder return”)

34:05 How to find out more about Robert Fritz

34:26 Michael closes the interview

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4. Kevin & Melinda Berg, Access Life
5. Jenny Blake, Life After College