Quote

Thinking is always dangerous to the status quo. [...] The moment you start thinking, you'll want to change something.

Margaret J. Wheatley

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

Margaret J. Wheatley
Age: 83
Born: 1941
Born: January 1
Business Theorist
Writer
Moment
Moments
Change
Something
Always
Thinking
Status
Dangerous
Start

More quotes by Margaret J. Wheatley

Image
Without reflection, we go blindly on our way, creating more unintended consequences, and failing to achieve anything useful.
Margaret J. Wheatley
Image
For eons, humans have struggled to find less destructive ways of living together.
Margaret J. Wheatley
Image
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.
Margaret J. Wheatley
Image
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
Image
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
Image
No longer in a relational universe, can we study anything as separate from ourselves. Our acts of observation are part of the process that brings forth the manifestation of what we are observing.
Margaret J. Wheatley
Image
I've found that I can only change how I act if I stay aware of my beliefs and assumptions. Thoughts always reveal themselves in behavior.
Margaret J. Wheatley
Image
They have eliminated rigidity, both physical and psychological, in order to support more fluid processes whereby temporary teams are created to deal with specific and ever-changing needs. They have simplified roles into minimal categories they have knocked down walls and created workplaces where people, ideas, and information circulate freely.
Margaret J. Wheatley
Image
Whatever life we have experienced, if we can tell our story to someone who listens, we find it easier to deal with our circumstances.
Margaret J. Wheatley
Image
You can’t hate someone whose story you know.
Margaret J. Wheatley
Image
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
Image
Who you are depends on who you meet.
Margaret J. Wheatley
Image
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
Image
To make a system stronger, we need to make stronger relationships.
Margaret J. Wheatley
Image
Space is the basic ingredient of the universe there is more of it than anything else.
Margaret J. Wheatley
Image
When error holds so much power, play disappears. Creativity ceases.
Margaret J. Wheatley
Image
In this new world, you and I make it up as we go along, not because we lack expertise or planning skills, but because that is the nature of reality. Reality changes shape and meaning because of our activity. And it is constantly new. We are required to be there, as active participants. It can't happen without us and nobody can do it for us.
Margaret J. Wheatley
Image
Life doesn't move in straight lines, and neither does a good conversation.
Margaret J. Wheatley
Image
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
Image
Most people associate command and control leadership with the military.
Margaret J. Wheatley