 If we understood how life organizes, how might we organize differently?
Through her photos, poetry, prose, research and collaboration, Margaret Wheatley explores this question to seek the conditions that nurture life.
The latest edition of her book Leadership and the New Science: Discovering Order in a Chaotic World has established a fundamentally new approach to how we think about organization and collaboration.
On this page, Margaret shares with us her latest thinking on leadership and collaboration in a chaotic world.
 Margaret Wheatley is the co-founder and President emeritus of The Berkana Institute, and the celebrated author of many books, including Leadership and the New Science: Discovering Order in a Chaotic World and Finding Our Way: Leadership for an Uncertain Time.
For over three decades, Margaret has been an organizational consultant and researcher, and has worked with a broad variety of organizations on all continents.
Her inspiring keynotes and work provide new insights into the nature of how people interact, and she inspires us to build better organizations and societies.
Margaret's interest in organizational behaviour has led her on a wonderful journey across the world. Currently, her interest is working in communities, with healthcare workers, school teachers and others who are trying to fulfil their calling.
Margaret completed her doctorate in Administration, Planning and Social Policy from Harvard University, and the American Society for Training and Development has deemed her “a living legend.”
Learn more about Meg Wheatley and her work here.
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One of Margaret's favourite questions to ask is, "What time is it?" It helps her determine what work is being done.
By asking, "What time is it?" Margaret is really looking for the answer to questions like, "What's happening in this society? Do we think things are going to get better soon or continue to deteriorate? Do we think our systems are fixable? Should we dedicate ourselves to fixing systems or creating anew?"
Margaret is convinced that many of our systems (e.g. organizational) are mechanistic and are not worth saving. Instead, we need to be earnestly engaged and dedicated to creating new ways to work together.
Finding Time
Nothing in our universe exists alone, especially people. Relationships are important - in fact, they're key to getting things done and doing things right.
Effective communication is fundamental to working well with others, and creating and nurturing our relationships. But, effective communication also takes time. With the onslaught of new forms of communication, particularly Internet-based, are we communicating effectively?
There is a deterioration in the workplace of the very things that make relationships strong. We have to reclaim time for ourselves to be reflective, to think and to learn from experiences. The single most revolutionary act we can do is to find time to think.
Margaret believes that time is one of our most precious commodities. She urges us to take the time to communicate with integrity. Most importantly, communication has to be real and repetitive.
It's a gift to bring people together, and there is no better way to communicate than face to face.
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Simple ain' t easy!
So much of the stress, difficulty and exhaustion that we feel is a result of working in isolation. Many of us seem to have forgotten the joy of working together.
When everyone cares about getting work done, synchronicity occurs. By involving ourselves in purposeful work, we become fully engaged and do not feel bound by bureaucracies and mundane tasks. Instead, our work becomes joyful. This is the Simpler Way to create and achieve social change.
Try to think of those times when you have worked well with others. What made that experience so successful? Take your leadership capacity and create those successful working conditions amongst your colleagues.
Margaret expressed her distress about the way we work together. In her work, she finds people acting in ways that obstruct positive work. She believes that we need to look at ourselves and how we can become better individuals.
She often asks, "When are we going to realize we are all in this together?"
Is Margaret idealistic? She remains hopeful when she visits young leaders and communities who have made the effort to do the best they can. In her article, "Restoring Hope to the Future," Margaret explores the possibilities of achieving great things by using "the great goodness of many."
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More than ever, women are exercising a different form of leadership that is much more community-based, focusing on children, relationships and the future. This has become a dominant trend in less-developed parts of the world that we just cannot help but notice.
Could it be that North American women are holding back the gift of their leadership?
Margaret's latest project, The Women's Leadership Revival Tour, is designed to get her message out that women's leadership is important to achieving social change in every part of the world.
Her advice to women who are struggling with leadership is two-fold. On one hand, younger women must realize that being a leader is not easy. They must approach leadership with patience and take time to communicate and think well together. On the other hand, older women need to realize how much power they really have. They must rid themselves of the notion that they must not "create ripples" and "disturb the peace."
According to Margaret, the key to achieving change is to develop a relationship of mutual respect and trust with leaders. Today's leaders, both men and women, need strong support from their peers in order to succeed.
The role of the leader also needs to change. In Margaret's work, she has found that leaders are taking on too much responsibility, especially when it comes to decision-making. True leaders should play the role of the host, and lead their team to accomplish most of the work through a collaborative effort.
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Margaret J. Wheatley - Margaret's website is home to her poetry, prose, books and tapes. It is a great place to learn more about this inspirational person and her work. Learn more about Margaret here.
The Berkana Institute - The Berkana Institute, co-founded by Margaret, connects and support pioneering, life-affirming leaders around the world who strengthen their communities. Explore the Berkana Institute here.
The Women's Leadership Revival Tour - This Tour invites women in communities all over North America to gather together in deep reflection and discovery of where women can most meaningfully offer their leadership. To learn more about the possibilities of women's leadership, click here.
Changing the World - In a November 2006 symposium, Re-Imagining Leadership, Margaret inspired women to change the world. Read what it takes to make a difference here.
Leadership and the New Science - In this book, Margaret searches for a simpler way to lead organizations and discover order in a chaotic world. Read her prologue here.
Restoring Hope to the Future - In this article, Margaret defines the kind of leadership it takes to create a global voice for change. Read more here.
Supporting Pioneering Leaders - This article by Margaret Wheatley discusses communities of practice, and what it takes for today's leaders to succeed. Read more here.
Using Emergence to Take Social Innovation to Scale - In this article, Margaret maps the life-cycle of emergence in order to understand the dynamics of networks. Learn more about emergence here.
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