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Finding Our Way
Book

Finding Our Way

Leadership for an Uncertain Time

Margaret J. Wheatley
Berrett-Koehler, 2005

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Editorial Rating

7

Qualities

  • Eye Opening

Recommendation

Margaret J. Wheatley’s essays argue that awareness of diversity, unified communities and relationships offers a better approach to leadership than the control orientation of “Western culture.” She doesn’t present her book as a set of academic studies. Instead, this look at culture, leadership, organizational change and working relationships is based more on her analysis. That approach may generate some banal insights and shaky history lessons, but it also leads to some strong, helpful observations about leadership and change. Wheatley offers interesting insights into, for example, the failure of school systems to function as systems, because they don’t evolve organically out of their communities and aren’t responsive to those they serve. getAbstract appreciates her insights about how organizations could work better by paying more attention to the humanity of their members.

Take-Aways

  • Modern Western culture assumes incorrectly that people are hierarchical, fearful, uncreative and selfish. Some earlier civilizations offer more humanistic models.
  • Western approaches to organizational life apply the metaphor of the machine to processes that are not mechanical.
  • Instead, use self-organizing, living systems as the model and metaphor for organizations.

About the Author

Margaret (Meg) Wheatley writes, teaches and speaks on organizational practices and ideas. A consultant, researcher and management professor, she heads the Berkana Institute, a global charitable leadership foundation. She also wrote Leadership and the New Science, Turning to One Another and A Simpler Way.

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