Leadership and the New Science
By: Margaret J. Wheatley
The basic premise of this book is that the business model, based in large part on Newtonian science of
order and the constancy of certain principles, which has long stood regarding the leadership via control
of employees, information, etc. is now out of date.
Rather, in our modern, fast-paced world we now discover that what once seemed reasonable and
worthy of consideration for organizational health is indeed ineffective. We need a new science model
that will speak to our modern realities. Wheatley provides us with a new way to look at leadership in
organizations through the analogy of quantum physics—an up and coming approach that helps to
explain some of the more unexplainable traits of our universe.
Therefore, instead of continuing to be a leadership consultant bent on following the basic idea that the
key to success is to “control” everything from a system of hierarchy with organizations needing to avoid
chaos, she now consults following a new mantra—chaos is a natural state and is inherently orderly; to
really have control in an organization is to be willing to trust employees by holding them accountable
while giving them the freedom and resources to form task forces to accomplish tasks and then reform as
needed for the next challenge, etc. In this way we can have “simplicity” and “elegance” as guiding
principles in this paradoxical world.
Therefore, I will try to put forth a chart that highlights these two different paradigms:
Newtonian Principles
Quantum Physics Principles
Old organizational forms based on order,
New organizational forms based on how
a clock-like universe
the universe organizes
Separation of things into parts
Holism—whole systems/relationships
Working with “matter”
Working with “energy”
Complex planning
Strategic planning
Expecting a predictable world—certainty
Curiosity
Search for better ways to objectively measure
There is no objective reality
Once worked
Explain our modern universe/organizations
Avoid chaos
Chaos is a natural state and is orderly
External rewards
Intrinsic motivators
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Newtonian Principles
Quantum Physics Principles
(Chpt.1): Discovering an Orderly World
Single forms, true answers, past practices
Adaptability, faith
Machines require energy to reverse
Natural growth and rejuvenation of a
inevitable decay
living system
Leadership as a “role”
Leadership as a “behavior”
(Chpt. 2) : Newtonian Organizations in a Quantum Age
Organizational charts (control aspect)
Organizational charts (information sharing)
--where pieces fit
--world is weird
--responsibilities organized into functions
--facilitation of process
--people organized into roles
--people form relationships (the new reality)
--cause and effect
--prediction and replication are impossible
--power (my share of the pie)
--power is purely relational
--measure effectiveness
--look at quality and health of relationships
(Chpt. 3) : Space Is Not Empty: Invisible Fields That Shape Behavior
Visible reality
Visible/invisible reality (fields)
--gravity
--relativity
--magnetic (electricity)
--magnetic (electricity)
--quantum
--morphic (influence species)
--cyberspace
Material forces (charismatic leader, $)
Non-material forces (culture, values, vision,
ethics)
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Newtonian Principles
Quantum Physics Principles
(Chpt. 4) : The Participative Nature of the Universe
Observation
Enigmas of observation
--cat in box
--double-slit experiment
Literal “ownership” by the few
Ownership by all
Limited people involvement
Many involvement potentials
Organizational charts
Tendency charts
--S-matrix diagrams
--self-organizing systems
(Chpt. 5) : Change, Stability, and Renewal: The Paradoxes of Self-Organizing Systems
Stability and equilibrium
Change and Renewal
Equilibrium is a result of the 2nd Law of
Organizations as open systems continue
thermodynamics –the end state of closed systems
to grow and evolve.
where the system has exhausted all of its capacity
Require non-equilibrium so growth continues
for change, finished its work, and becomes useless.
Depend on feedback loops (- and +) where
information increases and disturbance grows
Concept of self-organizing systems that are
(1) adaptive and resilient rather than rigid and
stable. Ex: spiral galaxies survive in their
environment using available resources to
sustain and strengthen themselves
(2) self-referencing in that it notices when
change is required in order to preserve
itself; therefore, this freedom to act is the
key to orderly change and stability over
time.
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Newtonian Principles
Quantum Physics Principles
(3) effects its environment so that both are
evolving simultaneously toward better
fitness for each other.
(Chpt. 6) : The Creativity Energy of the Universe—Information
Often poor communications due to information
Information essential for the emergence of
being treated as a “thing” to be managed
new order; therefore, the freedom of some
and controlled
chaos is necessary for organizational health.
Information is “power” and so is guarded
Information is nourishment and vital to all to
and the myth of “control” of it is adopted
do their best work and for the organization to
be resilient.
Ex: Organizations should strive to operate in
such a way that every person and/or small
group is a “fractal” of itself. A fractal is a deeply
patterned object, created through a simple
organizing process. (see pictures in book)
The outcome is evolution of the organization,
growth into new forms.
(Chpt. 7) : Chaos and the Strange Attractor of Meaning
Chaos is to be avoided
Chaos has been revealed with modern
Order is necessary and predictable
computers to actually have a pattern—
the strange attractor.
Chaos partners with order—a paradox
The destruction created by chaos is
necessary for creating something new.
Chaos is order without predictability.
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Newtonian Principles
Quantum Physics Principles
Linear dynamics—organizational charts
Non-linear dynamics—“Butterfly effect”
Look for order expressed in charts
Ex: Does the flap of a butterfly wing in Tokyo
affect a tornado in Texas? Yes
Therefore, even slight changes matter.
Look for patterns, even small ones generated
informally (ex: grapevine, e-mails, etc.)
So, senior executives must “walk the talk,
practice what they preach, live out what they
say.
Bosses
Leaders
(Chpt. 8) : Change: The Capacity of Life
“Change” failure rate for corporations—75%
Tend to look at a system’s parts
Looks at the “whole” system even as one works
The system is a machine (non-living)
with individual parts or isolated problems
“The part is not the whole, but it can lead us
there.”
Developing awareness of a whole system:
1. Involve the whole group.
2. Life uses networks, not boxes on a chart.
3. We are working with these webs of
relationships, not with machines.
4. Connect the weak area to more of the
whole system.
5. Develop greater self-knowledge in 3 areas:
A. Identity
B. New Information
C. Relationships
6. Make certain designs are meaningful
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Newtonian Principles
Quantum Physics Principles
(Chpt. 9) : The New Scientific Management
Influenced thinking in most of 19th & 20th
Our new way of thinking (zeitgeist) for 21st
centuries ; focused on control with work
century; focuses on a world of exquisite
and workers as an engineering problem
interconnectedness where workers, groupings,
the entire organization must reflect its fractal in terms
of vision, mission, etc.
Terms leaders as the “Boss”
Terms leaders as “gardeners, midwives, stewards,
servants, missionaries, facilitators, conveners”
Tight hold on information (power)
Information needs to be free and available to all
World is “round “
World is “flat”
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Leading in a Culture of Change by Michael Fullan
This workbook is intended to help leaders and leaders in training to focus on specific, key capabilities
that will allow them to lead effectively under conditions of rapid, nonlinear change. It also deals with
how to foster leadership in others to encourage learning, commitment, and responsibility at all levels of
the organization.
G. K Chesterton says “the real trouble with this world of ours is not that it is an unreasonable world, or
even that it is an unreasonable one. The commonest kind of trouble is that it nearly reasonable but not
quite…its wildness lies in wait.
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"Misers get up early in the morning; and burglars, I am informed,
get up the night before." - Tremendous Trifles
"A change of opinions is almost unknown in an elderly military
man." - A Utopia of Usurers, CW, V, p396
"The act of defending any of the cardinal virtues has today all the
exhilaration of a vice." - A Defense of Humilities, The Defendant,
1901
"A dead thing can go with the stream, but only a living thing can go
against it." - Everlasting Man, 1925
"Fallacies do not cease to be fallacies because they become fashions."
- ILN, 4/19/30
"Impartiality is a pompous name for indifference, which is an
elegant name for ignorance." - The Speaker, 12/15/00
"An inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered; an
adventure is an inconvenience rightly considered." - On Running
After Ones Hat, All Things Considered, 1908
"What embitters the world is not excess of criticism, but an absence
of self-criticism." - Sidelights on New London and Newer New York
"He is a [sane] man who can have tragedy in his heart and comedy in
his head." - Tremendous Trifles, 1909
"The sort of man who admires Italian art while despising Italian
religion is a tourist and a cad." ("Roman Converts" Dublin Review,
Jan-Mar. 1925)
Chapter 1 The Five Components of Change Leadership
Leadership is not mobilizing others to solve problems we already know how to
solve, but helping them to confront problems that have not yet been addressed
successfully.
Five Components of Leadership:
1. Moral purpose-making a positive difference
2. Understanding change-change is complex, resistance is a potential
positive force
3. Building relationships-among diverse people
4. Creating and sharing knowledge-information becomes knowledge through
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a social process
5. Making coherence-integrating, focusing amid complexity
Important: You need energy, enthusiasm, hope, and the five components
which will lead to
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Member Commitment-internal and external
Results-more good things happen, fewer bad things.
In this introductory chapter, what resonated for you or interested you the most?
What do you want or need to learn more about?
Chapter 2 Moral Purpose
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Moral purpose doesn’t stand alone.
Every leader to be effective must have moral purpose.
Moral purpose relates to ends and means.
Authentic leaders have a distinctive style and substance and moral
underpinnings (ideas, values, and commitments).
Cooperative groups thrive and selfish ones do not.
Most people have egoistic and altruistic desires.
Leadership needs
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An explicit sense of purpose
Strategies that mobilize many people to tackle tough problems
Be held accountable by measured and debatable indicator of success
Be assessed by the extent to which it awakens people’s intrinsic
commitment-your sense of moral purpose.
Leadership actions energize people to purse a desired goal.
Change mandated from the top down can result in burnout.
People who carry out the strategies must feel that they are part of the
success story.
Organizations and Moral Purpose
1. Moral purpose is a key element in the sustainability of organizations.
Long –lived companies have a strong sense of purpose and are adaptive
to their environments without compromising core ideals.
2. Healthy organizations help their members to expand their potential and
achieve their individual goals. This is the organization’s self-interest and
helps to create the organizations potential.
3. Moral purpose is what infuses an organization with passion and purpose.
Workers want to know the enabling purpose of their work.
4. Moral purpose without an understanding of change will lead to moral
martyrdom.
See pages 27-37
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