Margaret J. Wheatley
Margaret J. Wheatley
Margaret J. Wheatleyis an American writer and management consultant who studies organizational behavior. Her approach includes systems thinking, theories of change, chaos theory, leadership and the learning organization: particularly its capacity to self-organize. Her work is often compared to that of Donella Meadows and Dee Hock. She describes her work as opposing "highly controlled mechanistic systems that only create robotic behaviors."...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionWriter
CountryUnited States of America
Margaret J. Wheatley quotes about
world process
This is a world of process, not a world of things.
social conversation social-change
All social change begins with a conversation.
study awareness process
No longer in a relational universe, can we study anything as separate from ourselves. Our acts of observation are part of the process that brings forth the manifestation of what we are observing.
character intelligent thinking
Thinking is the place where intelligent actions begin. We pause long enough to look more carefully at a situation, to see more of its character, to think about why it's happening, to notice how it's affecting us and others
responsibility organization ideas
For me, this is a familiar image - people in the organization ready and willing to do good work, wanting to contribute their ideas, ready to take responsibility, and leaders holding them back, insisting that they wait for decisions or instructions
aggression
Aggression only breeds more aggression. It only creates more fear and anger.
together way humans
For eons, humans have struggled to find less destructive ways of living together.
guarantees-that healthy matter
The nature of the global business environment guarantees that no matter how hard we work to create a stable and healthy organisation, our organisation will continue to experience dramatic changes far beyond our control.
connections asking strengthening
Let's just keep asking ourselves this question: 'Is what I'm about to do strengthening the web of connections, or is it weakening it?'
perseverance simple decision
Perseverance is a choice. It's not a simple, one-time choice, it's a daily one. There's never a final decision.
cause created effect gone push reason solved soon
Yet we act as if simple cause and effect is at work. We push to find the one simple reason things have gone wrong. We look for the one action, or the one person, that created this mess. As soon as we find someone to blame, we act as if we've solved the problem.
confronted external sources type
Organisations are now confronted with two sources of change: the traditional type that is initiated and managed; and external changes over which no one has control.
anywhere appear believe leadership needs
I believe that the capacity that any organisation needs is for leadership to appear anywhere it is needed, when it is needed.
capacity daily encounter intent losing people satisfying work
In our daily life, we encounter people who are angry, deceitful, intent only on satisfying their own needs. There is so much anger, distrust, greed, and pettiness that we are losing our capacity to work well together.