Chapters 8 and 9 recount group interactions during the final three island times, leading to RA’s deliberate dissolution and reorganization. Unlike previous chapters, these chapters use a first-person, present-tense narrative to closely examine management issues and group dynamics during the last RA meetings and to reaffirm findings presented earlier in the book. Throughout these meetings, RA struggled to manage the transition from a close-knit group of friends to a formalized organization while retaining its foundational social practices, idioculture, and relationships. The group underwent a secularization process and became polarized over future directions. These chapters depict a group grappling with powerful sociological forces in tension with one another and trying to maintain effective collaboration and decision-making as the conditions for effective group decision-making eroded. Ultimately, RA lost its adaptive capacity and became stuck in a resilient yet undesirable state, leading to the decision to disband and seek new pathways to transformation. My own role in RA also comes to the foreground when during pivotal moments of interaction group leaders asked me to provide guidance based on my research, which consequently shaped their decisions and RA’s future.

Chapter 16 provides an analysis of an important passage in Simplicius’ Commentary on Epictetus’ Manual. What functions can the (true) philosopher have in political and social life? Simplicius answers this question as concerning either a state or city which is good or one which is evil. In general, the philosopher should look to the moral wellbeing of others, seeking to ‘humanize’ them (i.e., to promote the virtues, the political virtues, of a good human being). With this in view, in a good state the philosopher will assume leadership functions, as described in Plato’s concept of political science. In a morally corrupt state there will be no place for the philosopher in politics. To preserve his integrity, the philosopher may have to go into exile, as Epictetus did, and Simplicius himself. Or if exile is not possible, the philosopher will try to act in a more limited (probably domestic) sphere, but without compromise.

Chapters 8 and 9 recount group interactions during the final three island times, leading to RA’s deliberate dissolution and reorganization. Unlike previous chapters, these chapters use a first-person, present-tense narrative to closely examine management issues and group dynamics during the last RA meetings and to reaffirm findings presented earlier in the book. Throughout these meetings, RA struggled to manage the transition from a close-knit group of friends to a formalized organization while retaining its foundational social practices, idioculture, and relationships. The group underwent a secularization process and became polarized over future directions. These chapters depict a group grappling with powerful sociological forces in tension with one another and trying to maintain effective collaboration and decision-making as the conditions for effective group decision-making eroded. Ultimately, RA lost its adaptive capacity and became stuck in a resilient yet undesirable state, leading to the decision to disband and seek new pathways to transformation. My own role in RA also comes to the foreground when during pivotal moments of interaction group leaders asked me to provide guidance based on my research, which consequently shaped their decisions and RA’s future.

Leadership was central to the development of Australian infantry on the Western Front. Even Haig, who most often has the blame for the conduct of the war laid at his feet, realised the importance of leadership and training. There was an absolute ‘need for the training of battalion commanders’, he wrote in February 1918, ’who in their turn must train their company and platoon commanders. This is really a platoon commanders’ war’ Nevertheless, popular history today reviles British generals of the Great War as callous and negligent. The background for such perceptions is decades old and lies in the prose of a generation of war poets who wrote prolifically in the aftermath of the conflict. An infantry officer in 1917, Owen was diagnosed as suffering from shell shock and sent to Craiglockhart War Hospital in Edinburgh, Scotland where he wrote extensively. The difficulties faced by British commanders on the Western Front were significant and numerous. After 1916, the British high command was required to regenerate an army, grow a competent officer corps and develop and disseminate the doctrine necessary to win the war. Australian leadership shaped these events in the development of Australian infantry on the Western Front.

As advocates for play, teachers need to have a clear definition of play, a model of play used to guide their practice and a theory of play that underpins their philosophy of teaching and learning. This chapter brings together insights gained about play from all the chapters in this book and invites you to take a position on your own philosophy of play. We then ask you to become an advocate for children’s play.

Management scholars and psychologists have puzzled about how best to define, identify and measure hubris and hubristic tendencies, with only partial success. Such attempts try to help us see what lies behind the analogy between the ancient vice of hybris and its modern re-conceptualisation. In this chapter we explore how the processes of making metaphors work and how storytelling affects the teller and the audience. We examine what purposes storytelling serves, especially when its achieves a mythic character. We explore where aesthetics and literary theorising intersect with evolutionary psychology, and by connecting that to management studies. This leads to observations about the nature and practice of leadership that might signal hubris in the making. That might just help us see when the dark side of modern hubris snuffs out its bright-side potential, and perhaps how to prevent it doing so. This may help leaders learn when not to believe their own storytelling (or press releases).

This chapter focuses on Alcibiades’ love–hate relationship with the people of Athens to explore the notion of hybris in the context of leadership. Drawing on the social identity theory of leadership, I argue that the Athenians’ ambivalent attitude towards Alcibiades was a result of his complex interaction with two central aspects of Athenian social identity. Insofar as the Athenians perceived themselves as an imperialist and aristocratic city, Alcibiades was a ‘prototypical’ Athenian in that he embodied and articulated the most extreme form of Athenian imperialism. Insofar as the Athenians perceived themselves as ‘middling’ citizens, however, Alcibiades’ private and public conduct (couched by Thucydides in the language of transgression and hybris) was an affront to the dominant egalitarian political ethos. The analysis of Alcibiades’ mutable relationship with the Athenian people highlights the ways in which a leader’s hybris can manifest itself and how it can impact negatively on the leadership process.

This chapter seeks to introduce recent research on leadership hubris, particularly relating to political and business leaders. It offers an overview of key insights, concepts and theories suggesting three possible dimensions of the specific problem of leadership hubris and its consequences for leadership effectiveness. It also aims to highlight relationships and divergences between approaches and findings of classical scholars and of psychologists, neurologists and leadership researchers concerned with the experience and impact of modern, hubristic leadership. It aims to show how current understanding of hubris has developed from the ancient. While criminal charges may no longer be brought against those accused of hubris in their leadership roles, they may well be considered to be suffering from an acquired personality disorder. Alternatively, their dysfunctional leadership may be attributed to the negative consequences of a wider social process involving, in addition to the leaders themselves, a conducive context and followers rendered susceptible to such leadership by such processes of which both they and their leaders are victims.

Chapter 3 examines the reorganization of Indigenous regional networks in the areas near to Belém in the Lower Amazon. To avoid enslavement by the Portuguese, some Indigenous communities moved away from the easy-to-access riverbanks. Other Indigenous people successfully engaged with the Crown on their own terms, which allowed them a measure of autonomy to build communities, use their skills for their own benefit, and meet the demands of settlers. These changes and movements led to the development of what the Portuguese called the sertão, a place where people and forest and river products could be retrieved. From an Indigenous perspective, a regrouping occurred as people fled slavery upriver and moved to the riverbank to access colonial goods, such as metal tools.

This chapter first reproduces a fictional speech that I published in 2008, an election year for the Presidency of the United States. The candidates were Barack Obama and John McCain, both Senators at the time. In this imaginary speech, I expressed my thoughts on what the winner of the election might say about the steps he would take to give high priority to meeting the challenge of climate change. Climate change is not something the world can safely continue to procrastinate about. We cannot wait until coastal cities become abandoned before we start mitigating sea level rise. Waiting too long means doing too little and acting too late. There is a timescale built into the climate change issue by physics and chemistry, and the broad public has not yet fully realized the urgency of it. Climate change is fundamentally a moral and ethical problem, in my view. What do we who are alive today owe to the next generation, and to subsequent generations? We are literally creating the planet our children will live in. We must act energetically and wisely. Everything depends on what people and their governments do.

The chapter begins by examining how groups form and socialise members, and the forces of conformity that sustain existing norms. We then consider the emergence of differentiation and innovation, exploring how processes of minority influence and dissent challenge conformity. The chapter then explores the impact of contested norms, particularly in systems of inequality, and considers how these norms are challenged and transformed under more repressive and open regimes. This chapter also explores power, repression, agency and resistance, and how reinterpretations of classical studies by Milgram and Zimbardo are now understood through the lens of social identity theory. The transmission of norms between groups is discussed, alongside the entrepreneurs of identity who mobilise advantaged groups to support disadvantaged groups. This chapter makes a transition from traditional theories of intergroup relations to new paradigms that emphasise the fluidity of norms, the role of emerging leadership, and the transformative potential of identity in group dynamics.

This chapter focuses on the importance of circular business models and the synergies they create within circular economy liveable cities. Circular business models emphasise reducing waste, reusing resources, and recycling materials, promoting sustainable economic growth while addressing environmental challenges. By fostering innovation, resource efficiency, and collaboration across various sectors, these models help cities transition to a circular economy. The chapter highlights the role of leadership, imagination, and curiosity in driving this transformation. Leaders are key to setting ambitious goals and mobilising resources, while imaginative thinking and curiosity foster the development of innovative solutions to urban challenges. Examples from companies like Interface, Patagonia, and Philips Lighting demonstrate how visionary leadership and creative business models contribute to sustainability and circularity. The chapter explores the synergies between circular business models and urban systems, with case studies from cities like Amsterdam and Paris. These cities have adopted circular strategies that integrate sustainable waste management, renewable energy, and resource-efficient practices, showcasing the transformative potential of circular economies. Ultimately, the chapter argues that circular business models are essential for creating resilient, sustainable cities. By leveraging leadership, innovation, and cross-sector collaboration, cities can foster circular economies that promote environmental sustainability, economic growth, and improved quality of life.

Critical to successful engagement in any organisation is an understanding of the important elements affecting good communication. There are many dimensions to the study of communication in the 21st century, both generally and in health service settings, in the 21st century. This chapter considers the foundational concepts, with references to help students discover more about communication in organisational, social and cultural settings. Many believe that even the definition of communication is worth questioning. As a notion it is so discursive and diverse that any definition other than the simplest becomes so complex as to cease being useful.

The complexities inherent in healthcare organisations highlight the multifaceted nature of their operations. Regardless of role, scale, procedural intricacies or governance structures, these organisations need to deal with the complexities of both internal dynamics and external landscapes. The diversity of stakeholders involved adds layers of challenge to effectively managing clinical and social processes, optimising outcomes, allocating resources equitably, developing and retaining a skilled workforce, making informed decisions and upholding ethical standards.

The advent of the digital age has brought about significant changes in how information is created, disseminated and consumed. Recent developments in the use of big data and artificial intelligence (AI) have brought all things digital into sharp focus. Big data and AI have played pivotal roles in shaping the digital landscape. The term ‘big data’ describes the vast amounts of structured and unstructured data generated every day. Advanced analytics on big data enable businesses and organisations to extract valuable insights, make informed decisions and enhance various processes. AI, on the other hand, has brought about a paradigm shift in how machines learn, reason and perform tasks traditionally associated with human intelligence. Machine-learning algorithms, a subset of AI, process vast datasets to identify patterns and make predictions. This has applications across diverse fields, including health care, finance, marketing and more. The combination of big data and AI has fuelled advancements in areas such as personalised recommendations, predictive analytics and automation in all aspects of our day-to-day lives.