Margaret J. Wheatley Quotes

The future cannot be determined. It can only be experienced as it occurring. Life doesn't know what it will be until it notices what it has become.

In this present culture, we need to find the means to work and live together with less aggression if we are to resolve the serious problems that afflict and impede us.

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.

To make a system stronger, we need to make stronger relationships.

Too many problem-solving sessions become battlegrounds where decisions are made based on power rather than intelligence.

We have created trouble for ourselves in organizations by confusing control with order.

Power is the capacity to generate relationships.

Aggression is inherently destructive of relationships. People and ideologies are pitted against each other, believing that in order to survive, they must destroy the opposition.

These days, our senses are bombarded with aggression. We are constantly confronted with global images of unending, escalating war and violence.

Listening is a reciprocal process - we become more attentive to others if they have attended to us.

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.

Successful organizations, including the Military, have learned that the higher the risk, the more necessary it is to engage everyone's commitment and intelligence.

Organizations 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.

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?'

In virtually every organization, regardless of mission and function, people are frustrated by problems that seem unsolvable.

And time for reflection with colleagues is for me a lifesaver; it is not just a nice thing to do if you have the time. It is the only way you can survive.

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.

For us, someone who is willing to step forward and help is much more courageous than someone who is merely fulfilling the role.

I've found that I can only change how I act if I stay aware of my beliefs and assumptions. Thoughts always reveal themselves in behavior.

Aggression only breeds more aggression. It only creates more fear and anger.

Life doesn't move in straight lines, and neither does a good conversation.

Power in organizations is the capacity generated by relationships. It is an energy that comes into existence through relationships.

When error holds so much power, play disappears. Creativity ceases.

We could focus our efforts on discovering solutions that work uniquely for us.

Space is the basic ingredient of the universe; there is more of it than anything else.

For eons, humans have struggled to find less destructive ways of living together.

This is a world of process, not a world of things.

Thinking is always dangerous to the status quo. [...] The moment you start thinking, you'll want to change something.

Life is creative. It makes it up as it goes along.

I believe that the capacity that any organisation needs is for leadership to appear anywhere it is needed, when it is needed.

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.

And time for reflection with colleagues is for me a lifesaver it is not just a nice thing to do if you have the time. It is the only way you can survive.

The things we fear most in organizations-fluctuations disturbances imbalances-are the primary sources of creativity.

The future cannot be determined. I can only be experienced as it is occurring. Life doesn't know what it will be until it notices what it has become.