jitske kramer's books
Jitske Kramer is a best-selling author of books about her search for how people can be good people together. How we can build strong tribes, safe for differences and ready for change. How we can work and live well together, even with people we might not like. How people shape cultures and how cultures shape people. About change and what change requires of leaders and organizations. About decision-making, power, diversity and inclusion. About the lessons she learned on her anthropological trips. Many beautiful stories and practically written, solid theories.
Tricky Times
The messy middle of change
(Dutch & English)
In Tricky Times, Jitske Kramer unravels the complexities of transformations and cultural change.
We are in a period of transition. As with any major change, we have to let go of what is familiar without knowing exactly what the future holds. This is a confusing betwixt-and-between time, when things are neither what they were, nor what they will become. Anthropologists call such between-times liminality.
Fascinated by the myriad changes impacting our world and universally fierce emotions they are arousing, best-selling Dutch author and anthropologist Jitske Kramer set out to unravel the patterns of this liminal time. In clear language she describes the opportunities, the dangers and the lures during major changes. When wild stories confound, tricksters continually toy with truth and power relations shift.
We are lost in a trickster culture. We hail the best spinners of truth as heroes and now have Jack Sparrows as CEOs and Pinocchios as political leaders.
Tricky Times is an unsettling keynote talk that will have you seeing society, and yourself, with fresh eyes. A talk of insightful interpretations and personal views. Sharing lessons Jitske learned on her travels in diverse cultures. Offering a vision on the kind of leadership needed in liminal times. And an urgent talk, because we can and must do better. We have work to do.
Navigating through uncertain times is a tricky business. It takes fearlessness and faith.
Taking the knowledge and tools of anthropology, this keynote delves into the patterns and dynamics of major change. Anthropology has the ability to illuminate and lay bare things we knew but could not yet put into words. In Tricky Times, Jitske Kramer unravels the complexities of cultural change. Focusing particularly on what happens in the uncomfortable, turbulent, precarious and messy middle—when we know we cannot go back to how things were, but also can’t yet clearly picture what’s to come.
WORK HAS LEFT THE BUILDING
(Dutch & German)
Jitske Kramer wrote Work Has Left the Building during the second partial lockdown, in October 2020. About how the corona virus brought about a collective, worldwide culture shock and the impact it has had on our work life. For months, work routines have been turned upside down, we are confronted with uncertainty, crisis decisions and the need to adapt and change. Working from home took off, and now amounts to more than just make shift solutions in the online workplace. With questions like:
How to adapt your organizational structure? How to lead remotely? What can we do now to come out of this better in the long run? How to uphold the pride in the organization and maintain a connection with your team, even when you haven’t been able to see each other for weeks or even months? Is this a crisis or a transformation? What new rituals do we need right now?
With anthropological expertise, experiences in organizations and inspiration from her many travels, Jitske offers us tools for dealing with these bizarre times. This is an inspiring book full of valuable perspectives and concrete answers to today’s questions.
Hoe pas je jouw organisatiestructuur hierop aan? Hoe geef je leiding op afstand? Wat kun je nu doen om er op de lange termijn beter uit te komen? Hoe behoud je de trots op de organisatie en de verbinding met je team, ook als je elkaar weken en soms maanden niet kunt zien? Is dit een crisis of een transformatie? Welke nieuwe rituelen zijn nu nodig?
Met kennis vanuit de antropologie, ervaringen in organisaties en inspiratie uit de vele reizen die zij maakte, biedt Jitske houvast voor deze vreemde tijd. Een inspirerend boek boordevol waardevolle perspectieven en concrete antwoorden op vragen van nu.
DE CORPORATE TRIBE
(NL, ENG, Russian, German)
The Corporate Tribe will take you on a journey to discover the essence of culture and the secret to successful change programs. Along the way, it will introduce you to the cultural traditions of different people across the globe and provide you with the practical tools you need to apply what you find to today’s organizations. Through thirty compelling stories, The Corporate Tribe will reveal what, deep down, you already know.
BUILDING TRIBES
(NL)
describes how people shape cultures and how cultures shape people. It also explains the role of leaders, interaction and decision-making in this process. It includes an explanation of tribal archetypes (chiefs, sub-chiefs, hunters, gatherers, elders and magicians) and how to build good campfires, with wonderful examples from around the world. Shortlisted for Management Book of the Year 2019.
DEEP DEMOCRACY
(NL)
is about the Lewis method of Deep Democracy, developed in post-apartheid South Africa. Written for people who want to resolve conflicts, leverage differences, and then dare to make sustainable decisions. With a truly different way of looking at group processes and a surprisingly effective approach to putting this perspective into practice. Practical tools and techniques for dealing with extremes. It has been in the top 50 management books almost continuously since 2019.
JAM CULTURES
(NL, ENG)
Inclusion is about participating. About establishing essential relations with strangers. About diversity, about cocreation. We need these elements because we are living and working together with people from different cultures and backgrounds. This makes inclusion, handling power and differences well, one of the greatest challenges of our times.
Collaborations clash because of different organizational cultures, conflicts are created because we don’t understand each other. People are excluded because of their color, religion, age, or sexual orientation. Inclusion is a hot topic, and it discusses who decides on what, who should adapt to whom, about what we consider ‘normal’ and what not. About who can join in and especially about who cannot.
We need an energetic language to debate the issues, that doesn’t spark immediate conflicts. This language can be found in Jam Cultures, you will learn to look at inclusion like a jam session in which you meet each other, and everyone dares to share their personal sound, reaching a better result in constant tuning into each other.
WOW! WAT EEN VERSCHIL
(NL, ENG)
This is a book full of inspiration on differences and inclusion. From conflict and fragmentation to co-creation and connection. Offering you the ingredients to make use of the creative tension between opposing views. With eight inclusion principles that will lead the way to an inclusive work culture. Practical theories set out in less than 650 words.
VOODOO – OP REIS NAAR JEZELF VIA EEUWENOUDE RITUELEN
(NL)
is a personal account of Jitske’s anthropological journey to Togo, where she underwent centuries-old voodoo ceremonies for a week. A confrontational story that makes you look at yourself. With many important questions about life. Through others, you mainly encounter yourself.
A personal book in which Jitske Kramer takes you on a journey.
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