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" I believe that our very survival depends upon us becoming better systems thinkers. "

Margaret J. Wheatley

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" Hopelessness has surprised me with patience. "

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

" 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. "

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

" Aggression only moves in one direction - it creates more aggression. "

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

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

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

" 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

" 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. "

Margaret J. Wheatley

" Circles create soothing space, where even reticent people can realize that their voice is welcome. "

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

" 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

" 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

" 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

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

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

" 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

" 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

" 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

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

Margaret J. Wheatley

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

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