Margaret J. Wheatley Quotes - 9quotes.com

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We have created trouble for ourselves in organizations by confusing control with order.
Written by Margaret J. Wheatley
I've wanted to see beyond the Western, mechanical view of the world and see what else might appear when the lens was changed.
Written by Margaret J. Wheatley
I'm sad to report that in the past few years, ever since uncertainty became our insistent 21st century companion, leadership has taken a great leap backwards to the familiar territory of command and control.
Written by Margaret J. Wheatley
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.
Written by Margaret J. Wheatley
Successful organizations, including the Military, have learned that the higher the risk, the more necessary it is to engage everyone's commitment and intelligence.
Written by Margaret J. Wheatley
When leaders take back power, when they act as heroes and saviors, they end up exhausted, overwhelmed, and deeply stressed.
Written by Margaret J. Wheatley
I believe that the capacity that any organisation needs is for leadership to appear anywhere it is needed, when it is needed.
Written by Margaret J. Wheatley
I think it is quite dangerous for an organisation to think they can predict where they are going to need leadership. It needs to be something that people are willing to assume if it feels relevant, given the context of any situation.
Written by Margaret J. Wheatley
For us, someone who is willing to step forward and help is much more courageous than someone who is merely fulfilling the role.
Written by Margaret J. Wheatley
I think a major act of leadership right now, call it a radical act, is to create the places and processes so people can actually learn together, using our experiences.
Written by Margaret J. Wheatley
I think we have to notice that the business processes we use right now for thinking and planning and budgeting and strategy are all delivered on very tight agendas.
Written by Margaret J. Wheatley
For example, I was discussing the use of email and how impersonal it can be, how people will now email someone across the room rather than go and talk to them. But I don't think this is laziness, I think it is a conscious decision people are making to save time.
Written by Margaret J. Wheatley
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.
Written by Margaret J. Wheatley
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.
Written by Margaret J. Wheatley
In the past, it was easier to believe in my own effectiveness. If I worked hard, with good colleagues and good ideas, we could make a difference. But now, I sincerely doubt that.
Written by Margaret J. Wheatley
Hopelessness has surprised me with patience.
Written by Margaret J. Wheatley
I believe that our very survival depends upon us becoming better systems thinkers.
Written by Margaret J. Wheatley
Probably the most visible example of unintended consequences, is what happens every time humans try to change the natural ecology of a place.
Written by Margaret J. Wheatley
Without reflection, we go blindly on our way, creating more unintended consequences, and failing to achieve anything useful.
Written by Margaret J. Wheatley
Everyone in a complex system has a slightly different interpretation. The more interpretations we gather, the easier it becomes to gain a sense of the whole.
Written by Margaret J. Wheatley
Listening is such a simple act. It requires us to be present, and that takes practice, but we don't have to do anything else. We don't have to advise, or coach, or sound wise. We just have to be willing to sit there and listen.
Written by Margaret J. Wheatley
Whatever life we have experienced, if we can tell our story to someone who listens, we find it easier to deal with our circumstances.
Written by Margaret J. Wheatley
We know from science that nothing in the universe exists as an isolated or independent entity.
Written by Margaret J. Wheatley
Listening moves us closer, it helps us become more whole, more healthy, more holy. Not listening creates fragmentation, and fragmentation is the root of all suffering.
Written by Margaret J. Wheatley
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.
Written by Margaret J. Wheatley
Determination, energy, and courage appear spontaneously when we care deeply about something. We take risks that are unimaginable in any other context.
Written by Margaret J. Wheatley
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.
Written by Margaret J. Wheatley
Even though worker capacity and motivation are destroyed when leaders choose power over productivity, it appears that bosses would rather be in control than have the organization work well.
Written by Margaret J. Wheatley
Most people associate command and control leadership with the military.
Written by Margaret J. Wheatley
In these troubled, uncertain times, we don't need more command and control; we need better means to engage everyone's intelligence in solving challenges and crises as they arise.
Written by Margaret J. Wheatley

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