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

Margaret J. Wheatley

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Margaret J. Wheatley
Age: 83
Born: 1941
Born: January 1
Business Theorist
Writer
Failing
Creating
Unintended
Achieve
Blindly
Anything
Reflecting
Without
Consequences
Way
Useful
Reflection
Consequence

More quotes by Margaret J. Wheatley

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A leader is one who... Has more faith in people than they do, and . . . who holds opportunities open long enough for their competence to re-emerge.
Margaret J. Wheatley
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In this present culture, we need to find the means to work and live together with less aggression if we are to resolve the serious problems that afflict and impede us.
Margaret J. Wheatley
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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
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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
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Let's just keep asking ourselves this question: 'Is what I'm about to do strengthening the web of connections, or is it weakening it?'
Margaret J. Wheatley
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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
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Many of us have created lives that give very little support for experimentation. We believe that answers already exist out there, independent of us. What if we invested more time and attention to our own experimentation? We could focus our efforts on discovering solutions that work uniquely for us.
Margaret J. Wheatley
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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
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Circles create soothing space, where even reticent people can realize that their voice is welcome.
Margaret J. Wheatley
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Hopelessness has surprised me with patience.
Margaret J. Wheatley
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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
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Power is the capacity to generate relationships.
Margaret J. Wheatley
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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.
Margaret J. Wheatley
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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
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A world based on machine images is a world filled with boundaries. In a machine, every piece knows its place.
Margaret J. Wheatley
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When error holds so much power, play disappears. Creativity ceases.
Margaret J. Wheatley
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All social change begins with a conversation.
Margaret J. Wheatley
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Thinking is always dangerous to the status quo. [...] The moment you start thinking, you'll want to change something.
Margaret J. Wheatley
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Most people associate command and control leadership with the military.
Margaret J. Wheatley
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Without aggression, it becomes possible to think well, to be curious about differences, and to enjoy each other's company.
Margaret J. Wheatley