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A book in development by Lara Blackert

The Discipline
of Better

A leadership argument about the responsibility to create the conditions in which people and organizations can thrive.

Concept cover for The Discipline of Better by Lara Blackert
A developing book and body of work on how leaders create the conditions for people and organizations to thrive.

01 / The central argument

Leadership carries the responsibility to create the conditions in which people and organizations can thrive.

The Discipline of Better is about the responsibility leaders assume when an organization is entrusted to them: to understand it as it is, recognize what it could become, and strengthen it through the way they lead.

That responsibility is becoming more consequential. Organizations are entering a period of structural change in how work is performed, how value is created, and how people contribute. The decisions leaders make now will shape their institutions well beyond the initiatives or technologies prompting them.

For nearly two decades as an executive leader and enterprise CHRO, I have led through moments when organizations were redefining their strategies, operating models, and futures. That experience has convinced me that insight creates greater value when it extends beyond the organization in which it was earned, particularly while the questions remain unresolved.

I am sharing this work to bring perspective to the leadership responsibility we have in shaping the future of organizations.

Possibility is everywhere. Better is the discipline of pursuing it.

02 / The book architecture

How Leaders Build Better Organizations.

The book begins by challenging the assumptions leaders inherit, then examines the organizational conditions that shape how people work and the business performs. It concludes with the decisions, ownership, structures, and execution required to build a better organization.

Part I

Questioning What We Accept

  1. 01The Responsibility for Better
  2. 02The Questions We Stop Asking
  3. 03The Explanations We Inherit
  4. 04What Success Conceals

Part II

Understanding What Shapes Performance

  1. 05The Conditions People Work Within
  2. 06The Cost of Accommodation
  3. 07When Accountability Becomes Exposure
  4. 08Organizational Confidence

Part III

Turning Possibility Into Performance

  1. 09From Insight to Architecture
  2. 10Decisions
  3. 11Ownership
  4. 12Structure
  5. 13Execution
  6. 14The Discipline of Better

Better becomes real when leaders build for it.

Seeing possibility is only the beginning. Leadership requires the judgment to understand what must change and the discipline to create the conditions for stronger performance, greater adaptability, and more meaningful contribution.

The book is in development. Essays and emerging ideas from the work will continue to be published here.

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