"BESTSELLING BOOK: More than 30,000 copies sold of First Edition. MORE TIMELY EVERY YEAR: As people become more deeply divided around the world, lose faith in institutions, and grow in confusion, anger, and despair, the messages of this book are increasingly relevant, needed, and powerful. A GUIDE FOR LEADERS IN ALL KINDS OF ORGANIZATIONS-helping them choose a role of meaning and service in a rapidly darkening time. EVERY CHAPTER IS UPDATED. The core messages remain the same, but new perspectives and timely new information are included throughout the Second Edition. THREE NEW CHAPTERS: "Whatever Happened to Reality?"; "The Weaponizing of Information"; "Choosing a Path of Service and Meaning.""--
"I believe we can change the world if we start talking to one another again." With this simple declaration, Margaret Wheatley proposes that people band together with their colleagues and friends to create the solutions for real social change, both locally and globally, that are so badly needed. Such change will not come from governments or corporations, she argues, but from the ageless process of thinking together in conversation. Turning to One Another encourages this process. Part I explores the power of conversation and the conditions-simplicity, personal courage, real listening, and diversity-that support it. Part II contains quotes and images to encourage the reader to pause and reflect, and to prepare for the work ahead-convening truly meaningful conversations. Part III provides ten "conversation starters"-questions that in Wheatley's experience have led people to share their deepest beliefs, fears, and hopes.
This book is born of my desire to summon us to be leaders for this time as things fall apart, to reclaim leadership as a noble profession that creates possibility and humaneness in the midst of increasing fear and turmoil. I know it is possible for leaders to use their power and influence, their insight and compassion, to lead people back to an understanding of who we are as human beings, to create the conditions for our basic human qualities of generosity, contribution, community and love to be evoked no matter what. I know it is possible to experience grace and joy in the midst of tragedy and loss. I know it is possible to create islands of sanity in the midst of wildly disruptive seas. I know it is possible because I have worked with leaders over many years in places that knew chaos and breakdown long before this moment. And I have studied enough history to know that such leaders always arise when they are most needed. Now it's our turn.
We live in a time of chaos, rich in potential for new possibilities. A new world is being born. We need new ideas, new ways of seeing, and new relationships to help us now. New science - the new discoveries in biology, chaos theory, and quantum physics that are changing our understanding of how the world works - offers this guidance. It describes a world where chaos is natural, where order exists "for free." It displays the intricate webs of cooperation that connect us. It assures us that life seeks order, but uses messes to get there. Leadership and the New Science is the bestselling, most acclaimed, and most influential guide to applying the new science to organizations and management. In it, Wheatley describes how the new science radically alters our understanding of the world, and how it can teach us to live and work well together in these chaotic times. It will teach you how to move with greater certainty and easier grace into the new forms of organizations and communities that are taking shape. You'll learn that: relationships are what matters - even at the subatomic level; life is a vast web of interconnections where cooperation and participation are required; chaos and change are the only route to transformation. In this expanded edition, Wheatley provides examples of how non-linear networks and self-organizing systems are flourishing in the modern world. -- Back cover.
