James C. Selman (February 7, 1942 – December 29, 2024) was an American consultant, coach, and author.

Biography

Born in

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Oklahoma, most populous city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat ...

, Selman received his

B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

from the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma, United States. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two territories became the ...

in 1965, where he majored in

social psychology Social psychology is the methodical study of how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others. Although studying many of the same substantive topics as its counterpart in the field ...

and

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

.ParaComm International biography page for James C. Selman
Selman is described as being "in the forefront in helping major companies embrace the concept" of "contextual management".Perry Pascarella, "Can Management Break Out of Its Box?", ''Industry Week Magazine'' (June 13, 1983). He formed Selman & Associates in 1976, and "began research into the nature of culture and large-scale systems change". In 1984, he partnered with

Werner Erhard Werner Hans Erhard (born John Paul Rosenberg; September 5, 1935) is an American lecturer known for founding est (offered from 1971 to 1984). In 1985, he replaced the est Training with a newly designed program, the Forum. Since 1991, the Forum ...

to form Transformational Technologies, a consulting and training franchise operation, which served as the corporate division of Werner Erhard & Associates, with Selman as its first president. In his capacity there, he was noted to have said of his philosophy of management, "when we talk management technology, what we are talking about is a rigorously tested and challenged body of distinction for having access to whatever the phenomenon of management really is". In October 1987, Selman moderated a televised broadcast that featured Werner Erhard in discussion with top sports coaches

John Wooden John Robert Wooden (October 14, 1910 – June 4, 2010) was an American basketball coach and player. Nicknamed "the Wizard of Westwood", he won ten National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, nati ...

Red Auerbach Arnold Jacob "Red" Auerbach (September 20, 1917 – October 28, 2006) was an American professional basketball coach and executive. As a head coach in the National Basketball Association (NBA), he led the Boston Celtics to an unprecedented champio ...

, Timothy Gallwey and George Allen discussing principles of coaching across all disciplines.Sourcebook of Coaching History, Vikki G Brock PhD., 2012. They sought to identify distinctions found in coaching, regardless of the subject being coached. In 1989, with the late Professor Roger Evered (U.S. Naval Graduate School at Monterrey), Selman documented the outcome in the first article on organizational coaching, titled "Coaching and the Art of Management". In another article, "Leadership and Innovation: Relating to Circumstances and Change", Selman identifies six ways of responding to change. Selman was described as "an enormously powerful man with a deep voice and a way of speaking that held people's attention and inspired confidence".Elizabeth Russell, ''Reading Under the Covers: An Autobiography'' (2005). Selman & Associates became Paracomm Partners International in 1988. Selman was the host and co-producer with Phyllis Haynes of the podcast and web program Possible Futures, conversations and commentary to explore ideas and decision making and their relationship to possible futures.

Bibliography

*"Managers Anonymous," ''New Management'', 1988 (Vol. 6, Issue 2) *"Coaching and the Art of Management," ''Organizational Dynamics'', 1989 *"Coaching: Beyond Management," 10-hour video course & workbook, 1989 *"Rethinking the Fundamentals," ''Canadian Utilities Limited'' (internal corporate publication), 1990 *"Ground Rules for Effective Teams," ''TransAlta Utilities'', 1992 *"Empowering Organizational Culture," ''TransAlta Utilities'', 1992 *"Dialogue on Commitment," ''Journal of Management Inquiry'', 1995 *''Retiring Right The Freeway Guide: How to Invent the Rest of Your Life!'' (Audiobook; Waterside, 2007) *''Leadership'' (2007) *''The Elder'' (with Dr. Marc B. Cooper; Sahalie Press, 2011) *''Living in a Real-Time World: 6 Capabilities to Prepare Us for an Unimaginable Future'' (Jan 7, 2019) *''Serene Ambition in a Real-Time World'' (Aug 27, 2020)

References

External links

Amazon.com author page for Jim Selman

YouTube channel page for Possible Futures with Jim Selman
{{DEFAULTSORT:Selman, Jim 1942 births Living people Writers from Oklahoma City University of Oklahoma alumni American consultants American non-fiction writers