Margaret J. Wheatley Quotes & Sayings

We know from science that nothing in the universe exists as an isolated or independent entity. — Margaret J. Wheatley

Leadership is a series of behaviors rather than a role for heroes. — Margaret J. Wheatley

[A]ll change, even very large and powerful change, begins when a few people start talking with one another about something they care about. — Margaret J. Wheatley

Innovation is fostered by information gathered from new connections; from insights gained by journeys into other disciplines or places; from active, collegial networks and fluid, open boundaries. Innovation arises from ongoing circles of exchange, where information is not just accumulated or stored, but created. Knowledge is generated anew from connections that weren't there before. — Margaret J. Wheatley

When leaders take back power, when they act as heroes and saviors, they end up exhausted, overwhelmed, and deeply stressed. — Margaret J. Wheatley

Hopelessness has surprised me with patience. — Margaret J. Wheatley

Aggression is the most common behavior used by many organizations, a nearly invisible medium that influences all decisions and actions. — Margaret J. Wheatley

Without reflection, we go blindly on our way, creating more unintended consequences, and failing to achieve anything useful. — Margaret J. Wheatley

In fact, Western culture has spent decades drawing lines and boxes around interconnected phenomena. We've chunked the world into pieces rather than explored its webby nature. — Margaret J. Wheatley

We would do well to ponder the realization that love is the most potent source of power. — Margaret J. Wheatley

Relationships are all there is. Everything in the universe only exists because it is in relationship to everything else. Nothing exists in isolation. We have to stop pretending we are individuals that can go it alone — 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. — 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. — 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. — Margaret J. Wheatley

We experience problem-solving sessions as war zones, we view competing ideas as enemies, and we use problems as weapons to blame and defeat opposition forces. No wonder we can't come up with real lasting solutions! — Margaret J. Wheatley

Power is the capacity to generate relationships. — 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. — Margaret J. Wheatley

We have created trouble for ourselves in organizations by confusing control with order. — Margaret J. Wheatley

Passion mutates into procedures, into rules and roles. Instead of purpose, we focus on policies. Instead of being free to create, we impose constraints that squeeze the life out of us. — 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. — Margaret J. Wheatley

As we let go of the machine model of work, we begin to step back and see ourselves in new ways, to appreciate wholeness, and to design organizations that honor and make use of the totality of who we are. — Margaret J. Wheatley

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. — Margaret J. Wheatley

It's not differences that divide us. It's our judgments about each other that do. — 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. — Margaret J. Wheatley

We've taken disturbances and fluctuations and averaged them together to give us comfortable statistics. Our training has been to look for big numbers, important trends, major variances. Yet it is the slight variations - soft-spoken, even whispered at first - that we need to encourage. — Margaret J. Wheatley

Independence is a political concept, not a biological concept. — 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. — Margaret J. Wheatley

We can't be creative if we refuse to be confused. Change always starts with confusion; cherished interpretations must dissolve to make way for what's new. Great ideas and inventions miraculously appear in the space of not knowing. — Margaret J. Wheatley

A leader is one who ... Has more faith in people than they do, and ... who holds opportunities open long enough for their competence to re-emerge. — Margaret J. Wheatley

For eons, humans have struggled to find less destructive ways of living together. — Margaret J. Wheatley

All of us need better skills in listening, conversing, respecting one another's uniqueness, because these are essential for strong relationships. — Margaret J. Wheatley

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. — 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. — Margaret J. Wheatley

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

This is a world of process, not a world of things. — Margaret J. Wheatley

Self-production: the characteristic of living systems to continuously renew themselves and to regulate this process in such a way that the integrity of their structure is maintained. It is a natural process which supports the quest for structure, process renewal and integrity. — Margaret J. Wheatley

We each create our world by what we choose to notice, creating a world of distinction that makes sense to us. We then 'see' the world through the self we have created. — Margaret J. Wheatley

When we seek for connection, we restore the world to wholeness. Our seemingly separate lives become meaningful as we discover how truly necessary we are to each other. — Margaret J. Wheatley

There is no power for change greater than a community discovering what it cares about. — Margaret J. Wheatley

When error holds so much power, play disappears. Creativity ceases. — Margaret J. Wheatley

Disorder can play a critical role in giving birth to new, higher forms of order. — Margaret J. Wheatley

Life now insists that we encounter groundlessness. Systems and ideas that seemed reliable and solid dissolve at an increasing rate. People who asked for our trust betray or abandon us. Strategies that worked suddenly don't. Groundlessness is a frightening place, at least at first, but as the old culture turns to mush, we would feel stronger if we stopped searching for ground, if we sought only to locate ourselves in the present and do our work from here. — Margaret J. Wheatley

Space is the basic ingredient of the universe; there is more of it than anything else. — Margaret J. Wheatley

One of the great errors organizations make is shutting down what is a natural, life-enhancing process-chaos. We are terrified of chaos. As a manager, it signals failure. But if you move out of control and into an appreciation of natural order, you understand that the only way a system changes is when it is far from equilibrium, when it moves from the 'quiet' we treasure and is confronted with the choice to die or reorganize. And you can't reorganize to a higher level unless you risk the perils of the path through chaos. — Margaret J. Wheatley

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. — Margaret J. Wheatley

We need to move from the leader as hero, to the leader as host. — 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. — Margaret J. Wheatley

Circles create soothing space, where even reticent people can realize that their voice is welcome. — Margaret J. Wheatley

All social change begins with a conversation. — 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. — Margaret J. Wheatley

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

To make a system stronger, we need to make stronger relationships. — Margaret J. Wheatley

We don't have to agree with each other in order to think well together. There is no need for us to be joined at the head. We are joined by our human hearts. — Margaret J. Wheatley

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

The search for the lessons of the new science is still in progress, really in its infancy. In this realm, three is a new kind of freedom, where it is more rewarding to explore than to reach conclusions, more satisfying to wonder than to know, and more exciting to search than to stay put. Curiosity, not certainty, becomes the saving grace. — Margaret J. Wheatley

It is time to stop waiting for someone to save us. It is time to face the truth of our situation - that we're all in this together, that we all have a voice - and figure out how to mobilize the hearts and minds of everyone in our workplaces and communities. — Margaret J. Wheatley

Change always involves a dark night when everything falls apart. Yet if this period of dissolution is used to create new meaning, then chaos ends and new order emerges. — Margaret J. Wheatley

I believe that our very survival depends upon us becoming better systems thinkers. — Margaret J. Wheatley

One of the easiest human acts is also the most healing. Listening to someone. Simply listening. Not advising or coaching, but silently and fully listening. — Margaret J. Wheatley

Nothing has given me more hope recently than to observe how simple conversations give birth to actions that can change lives and restore our faith in the future. There is no more powerful way to initiate significant social change than to start a conversation. When a group of people discover that they share a common concern, that's when the process of change begins. — 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. — Margaret J. Wheatley

Destroying is a necessary function in life. Everything has its season, and all things eventually lose their effectiveness and die. — Margaret J. Wheatley

We are, always, poets, exploring possibilities of meaning in a world which is also all the time exploring possibilities. — Margaret J. Wheatley

Our growing addiction to the Internet is impairing precious human capacities such as memory, concentration, pattern recognition, meaning-making, and intimacy. We are becoming more restless, more impatient, more demanding, and more insatiable, even as we become more connected and creative. We are rapidly losing the ability to think long about any- thing, even those issues we care about. We flit, moving restlessly from one link to another. — Margaret J. Wheatley

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. — 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. — Margaret J. Wheatley

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

Our willingness to acknowledge that we only see half the picture creates the conditions that make us more attractive to others. The more sincerely we acknowledge our need for their different insights and perspectives, the more they will be magnetized to join us. — Margaret J. Wheatley

A leader these days needs to be a host - one who convenes diversity; who convenes all viewpoints in creative processes where our mutual intelligence can come forth. — Margaret J. Wheatley

Aggression only breeds more aggression. It only creates more fear and anger. — Margaret J. Wheatley

Perseverance is a choice. It's not a simple, one-time choice, it's a daily one. There's never a final decision. — Margaret J. Wheatley

There are many benefits to this process of listening. The first is that good listeners are created as people feel listened to. Listening is a reciprocal process - we become more attentive to others if they have attended to us. — Margaret J. Wheatley

Who you are depends on who you meet. — Margaret J. Wheatley

Ask what's possible, not what's wrong. Keep asking. — Margaret J. Wheatley

Life is creative. It makes it up as it goes along. — Margaret J. Wheatley

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

We do as much harm holding onto programs and people past their natural life span as we do when we employ massive organizational air strikes. However, destroying comes at the end of life's cycle, not as a first response. — Margaret J. Wheatley

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. — Margaret J. Wheatley

A world based on machine images is a world filled with boundaries. In a machine, every piece knows its place. — Margaret J. Wheatley

The things we fear most in organizations - fluctuations, disturbances,
imbalances - are the primary sources of creativity. — Margaret J. Wheatley

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

When we can lay down our fear and anger and choose responses other than aggression, we create the conditions for bringing out the best in us humans. — 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. — Margaret J. Wheatley

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?' — Margaret J. Wheatley

Most people associate command and control leadership with the military. — Margaret J. Wheatley

You can't hate someone whose story you know. — 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. — 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. — Margaret J. Wheatley

Despite current ads and slogans, the world doesn't change one person at a time. It changes when networks of relationships form among people who share a common cause and vision of what's possible. This is good news for those of us intent on creating a positive future. Rather than worry about critical mass, our work is to foster critical connections. We don't need to convince large numbers of people to change; instead, we need to connect with kindred spirits. Through these relationships, we will develop the new knowledge, practices, courage and commitment that lead to broad-based change. — Margaret J. Wheatley

In organizations, real power and energy is generated through relationships. The patterns of relationships and the capacities to form them are more important than tasks, functions, roles, and positions. — Margaret J. Wheatley

Without aggression, it becomes possible to think well, to be curious about differences, and to enjoy each other's company. — Margaret J. Wheatley

In this new world, you and I make it up as we go along, not because we lack expertise or planning skills, but because that is the nature of reality. Reality changes shape and meaning because of our activity. And it is constantly new. We are required to be there, as active participants. It can't happen without us and nobody can do it for us. — Margaret J. Wheatley

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. — Margaret J. Wheatley

Very great change starts from very small conversations, held among people who care. — 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. — 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. — Margaret J. Wheatley