Synopses & Reviews
In 1992, Leadership and the New Science launched a revolution by demonstrating that ideas drawn from quantum physics, chaos theory, and molecular biology could improve organizational performance. Margaret Wheatley called for free-flowing information, individual empowerment, relationship networks, and organizational change that evolves organically -- ideas that have become commonplace. This new edition includes a new chapter that examines the relationship of change to identity.
Synopsis
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. In the midst of turbulence, Wheatley shows, we create work and lives rich in meaning.
Synopsis
Wheatley applies scientific concepts to the management of organizations and information, offering new insight on issues troubling people most: order and change, autonomy and control; structure and flexibility, planning and innovation. Color photos.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. 178-184) and index.
Table of Contents
Introduction: Searching for a simpler way to lead organizations -- Discovering an orderly world -- Newtonian organizations in a quantum age -- Space is not empty: invisible fields that shape behavior -- The participative nature of the universe -- Change, stability, and renewal: the paradoxes of self-organizing systems -- The creative energy of the universe--information -- Chaos and the strange attractor of meaning -- Change--the capacity of life -- The new scientific management -- Epilogue: Journeying to a new world.