Quotes by Margaret J. Wheatley

About Margaret J. Wheatley:

Margaret J. Wheatley is an American writer and management consultant who studies organizational behavior. Her approach includes systems thinking, theories of change, chaos theory, leadership and the learning organization: particularly its capacity to self-organize. Her work is often compared to that of Donella Meadows and Dee Hock. She describes her work as opposing "highly controlled mechanistic systems that only create robotic behaviors."
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

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

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

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 are, always, poets, exploring possibilities of meaning in a world which is also all the time exploring possibilities.

Margaret J. Wheatley

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

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

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

Margaret J. Wheatley

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

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

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

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

Margaret J. Wheatley

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

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

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

Margaret J. Wheatley

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

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...

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

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

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

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

Author Bio

  • NameMargaret J. Wheatley
  • DescriptionAmerican writer
  • Born1941