Margaret Wheatley quotes

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 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. View quote
Margaret 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. View quote
Margaret 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. View quote
Margaret 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. View quote
Margaret 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. View quote
Margaret Wheatley
Without reflection, we go blindly on our way, creating more unintended consequences, and failing to achieve anything useful. View quote
Margaret 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. View quote
Margaret 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. View quote
Margaret Wheatley
Determination, energy, and courage appear spontaneously when we care deeply about something. We take risks that are unimaginable in any other context. View quote
Margaret Wheatley
Too many problem-solving sessions become battlegrounds where decisions are made based on power rather than intelligence. (Margaret Wheatley)
Aggression only moves in one direction - it creates more aggression. View quote
Margaret Wheatley
We know from science that nothing in the universe exists as an isolated or independent entity. View quote
Margaret Wheatley
I believe that our very survival depends upon us becoming better systems thinkers. View quote
Margaret Wheatley
These days, our senses are bombarded with aggression. We are constantly confronted with global images of unending, escalating war and violence. View quote
Margaret Wheatley
Destroying is a necessary function in life. Everything has its season, and all things eventually lose their effectiveness and die. View quote
Margaret Wheatley
Aggression is the most common behavior used by many organizations, a nearly invisible medium that influences all decisions and actions. View quote
Margaret Wheatley
In virtually every organization, regardless of mission and function, people are frustrated by problems that seem unsolvable. View quote
Margaret Wheatley
We have created trouble for ourselves in organizations by confusing control with order. View quote
Margaret 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. View quote
Margaret Wheatley
When leaders take back power, when they act as heroes and saviors, they end up exhausted, overwhelmed, and deeply stressed. (Margaret Wheatley)
For us, someone who is willing to step forward and help is much more courageous than someone who is merely fulfilling the role. View quote
Margaret 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. View quote
Margaret 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. View quote
Margaret 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. View quote
Margaret Wheatley