Source principles—a beginner's book

Presented for the first time in book form, the source principles breathe energy, clarity and creativity into the development of every project. You can order the book here (Print or E-Book).

The source person is someone who gets an idea and then takes initiatives and risks to realize it. The source person’s main task is to clarify what the next step in the development of the project should be. When she needs support, she invites other people to participate; they in turn become source of specific parts of the project. This is the way all our collectives are born.

In life, people take on several source roles: the manager is invited to become the source of a team, the employee to be the source of her tasks, the musician to be the source of his performance, the sportswoman to be the source of her good condition. Wherever there’s a project, there’s a source.

The source principles illuminate the way we engage with our own initiatives. The clarity they offer boosts our dedication and our capacity to encourage those around us to embark on their source journeys. Source principles invite us to live out a more inspired management style, they stimulate our creative involvement, and they give new meaning to our professional and personal alliances.

Stefan Merckelbach, the author, is a self-designated philosopher manager and source of the Ordinata company in Switzerland.

Peter John Koenig is the father of the source principles set forth here and has written the afterword.

Vincent Delfosse is corporate life biologist at Ordinata and source of the photography.

Karen Smith has magnificently translated the book from the French.

A little red book about source. Liberating management and living life with source principles.
168 pages, format 17 x 17 cm, with 17 black-and-white photographs.
Published on 8 September2020, Aquilae Editions - Switzerland.

Order the book online here, in Print, E-Book or Kindle version.

Reader's feedback

"A little red book about source is an irreplaceable companion for anyone who is involved and has to coordinate with others in projects, initiatives or organisations. While cooperating with others, we are constantly confronted with questions of authority, power and influence. The source principles described in this book help us to recognise the natural hierarchy in projects and enable an organic development of collectives. In poetic language Stefan Merckelbach explains how recognition of the source not only creates clarity, but also constitutes a breeding ground for the unfolding of potential and loving cooperation. I recommend this easily digestible book to anyone and everyone who wishes to have better access to their own creative power and who longs for more ease in living and working with others."

Nadjeschda Taranczewski, Founder of Conscious U, Berlin


"Time has been stretched the last couple of months. However, I did manage to read your book the other weekend and I have to say that it was transformative—reading it could not have come at a better time. I connected with so much of what was written within the book and I know that I will consistently revisit it time and time again—that to me is the sign of a true 'classic'!! Congratulations—it's a gift to whoever reads it."

Neil Bridgeman, VP Marketing & Brand at KRY, London

From Peter John Koenig’s Afterword

“Not only does it contain an accurate description of what I’ve been working on these last years, with a beautiful overlay and elaboration of Stefan Merckelbach’s own expression, but A little red book about source is itself an embodiment of the source principles described within it. Over the years, thousands of people have confirmed and reconfirmed these source principles in their own lives. I find the gentle, sensitive and step-by-step approach that Stefan has used to introduce and explain them, exemplary.”

Peter John Koenig, father of the source principles (see his blog on moneywork).

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