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Summary: The Wheatley Boyz(John, Paul, & Corey) Review
Review: Margaret Wheatley provides a different dimension of understanding organizational behavior. Linking quantum physics and chaos theory she asks us to rid ourselves of our mechanistic approach to organization process in better understanding and analyzing the patterns of organization behavior. Chaos within the organization results from both information and the organization interacting with the environment. This chaos leads to order, then growth, as the organization becomes self-analyzing and self-creating. You will not need a PHD in Physics to appreciate this perspective. This book is designed to provoke thought and discussion. We would highly recommended it to anyone who desires to expand his or her perspective on standard organizational models. Wheatley wrote this book to change old ways of thinking and create new ways of looking at organizations. The book is not a toolkit for a new style of management but a thought-provoking summary that applies changes in science (biology, chemistry, chaos theory, and quantum physics) to organizations. It is not necessarily an issue of disliking, but more of a matter of follow-through, of substance. Yes, the main purpose of the book is to make you think, instill discussion on the connection of New Science to business. However, maybe we are, were, in more of a plan and results perspective. Throughout the book, numerous times the ideas presented "synapsed" with us, but then the immediate reaction was, "How/what does Wheatley propose to us so we can actually effect this change?" It is possible more application and implementation comes with more direct follow-up to her WEB site or discussion site, but after reading the book it remains more theoretical in today's business world, unless one could effect the organization and see positive and tangible results
Rating:
Summary: The Wheatley Boyz(John, Paul, & Corey) Review
Review: Margaret Wheatley provides a different dimension of understanding organizational behavior. Linking quantum physics and chaos theory she asks us to rid ourselves of our mechanistic approach to organization process in better understanding and analyzing the patterns of organization behavior. Chaos within the organization results from both information and the organization interacting with the environment. This chaos leads to order, then growth, as the organization becomes self-analyzing and self-creating. You will not need a PHD in Physics to appreciate this perspective. This book is designed to provoke thought and discussion. We would highly recommended it to anyone who desires to expand his or her perspective on standard organizational models. Wheatley wrote this book to change old ways of thinking and create new ways of looking at organizations. The book is not a toolkit for a new style of management but a thought-provoking summary that applies changes in science (biology, chemistry, chaos theory, and quantum physics) to organizations. It is not necessarily an issue of disliking, but more of a matter of follow-through, of substance. Yes, the main purpose of the book is to make you think, instill discussion on the connection of New Science to business. However, maybe we are, were, in more of a plan and results perspective. Throughout the book, numerous times the ideas presented "synapsed" with us, but then the immediate reaction was, "How/what does Wheatley propose to us so we can actually effect this change?" It is possible more application and implementation comes with more direct follow-up to her WEB site or discussion site, but after reading the book it remains more theoretical in today's business world, unless one could effect the organization and see positive and tangible results
Rating: 
Summary: Leave Newtonian thought behind and read this book
Review: Not a long book, but the kind of book that deserves to be read slowly and thoughtfully, soaking up ever phrase. Discoveries in the organization of nature can be applied to our understanding of organizing activities anywhere. Therefore, we must study and understand all that can be learned on the cutting edged of science and enlightened thought. Ms. Wheatley does a wonderful job of weaving the findings of quantum physics, chaos theory etc, into a wonderful fabric of thought and new perspective -- a spellbinding experiece for me.
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Summary: Add to your thought leadership collection
Review: One of the greatest values that Margaret's book brings to the party is that she did a great job of finding the shiniest artifacts during her dig. I followed some of the most profound observations backwards, looking for the original works of the authors she quoted. I found their original work far less insightful than the context Margaret presented it in. These comments apply to Margaret's original work. I can't comment on the complaints expressed by others as to the changes introduced in her latest edition. Her other work, "A Simpler Way", while I have quoted specific portions of the book, is far too poetic to deliver significant research value.
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Summary: Another bus. book stretch with a psuedo-intellectual twist
Review: Pop business babble that cloaks itself in pretty conceptual constructs but offers few practical insights. The author often over-reaches in her attempts to bend notions of leadership to fit within the book's high-minded framework. LATNS, like many popular business books, offers a few intriguing ideas but ultimately fails to achieve relevance.
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Summary: A new twist on new theories!
Review: This book is amazing. There is no other way to put it. I have just finished it and I think that it will probably significantly change the rest of my life. If you have ever felt lost in our world, or that something is missing in the way you see things you must read this book! Wheatley applies the ideas presented by chaos theory, quantum physics, and systems in biology to the worklplace. Only due to its nature this book will impact every part of your life - no matter who you are. I can't explain it other than tell you that it is an enlightening experience. I have included two of my favorite quotes from this text. "As we reflect on the times when we personally have descended into chaos, we can notice that as it ends, we emerge changed, stronger in some ways, new. We have held in us the dance of creation and learned that growth always requires passage through fearful realms of disintegration." - P 119. "If we take seriously the role of explorer and inventor we will realize the we can't do this alone... We need each other to test out ideas, to share what we're learning, to help us see in new ways, to listen to our stories. We need each other to forgive us when we fail, to trust us with their dreams, to offer their hope when we've lost our own... We will vacillate, one day doing something bold and different, excited over our progress, the next day, back to old behaviors, confused about how to proceed. We need to expect that we will wander off course and not make straight progress to our destination. To stay the course we need patience, compassion, and forgiveness. We should require this of one another. It will help ups be bold explorers; it might keep us from going mad." - P 174-175.
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Summary: "Tipping Point" Book Vital to Government, Not Just Business
Review: This book is beyond five stars, and not just for business, where it is receiving all the praise it is due, but within government, where it has not yet been noticed. It was recommended to me by the author of "Building a Knowledge-Driven Organization," and I now recommend it to everyone I know. If there are two books that can "change the world," these are the ones.
Although the Chinese understood all this stuff centuries ago (Yin/Yang, space between the dots, the human web), the author is correct when she notes late in the book that the commoditization of the human worker (Cf. Lionel Tiger, "The Manufacture of Evil") and the emphasis on scientific objectivity and scientific manager (Cf. Jean Ralston Saul, "Voltaire's Bastards") were perhaps the greatest error we might have made in terms of long-run progress. Coincidentally, as I finished the book, on the Discovery channel in the background they were discussing how the leveeing of the Mississippi blocked the Louisiana watershed from cleansing the Mississippi naturally, as it once used to.
It's all about systems--the author does cite Donella Meadows' 1982 article in Stewart Brand's Co-Evolution Quarterly, but does not pay much heed to the large body of literature that thrived in the 1970's around the Club of Rome.
There are perhaps three bottom lines in this book that I would recommend to any government leader who hopes to stabilize and reconstruct our world:
1) Information is what defines who we are, what we can become, what we can perceive, what we are capable of achieving. Blocking or controlling information flows stunts our growth and virtually assures defeat if not death. It is the optimization of listening--being open to *all* information (and especially all the information the secret world now ignores)--that optimizes our ability to adjust, evolve, and grow.
2) Command & control is history, block and wire diagrams are history. General Al Gray had it right in the 1990's when he talked about "commander's intent" as the baseline. Leaders today need to be disruptive, to look for dissonant views and news, and to empower all individuals at all levels with both information, and the authority to act on that information.
3) Disorder is an *opportunity*. We have the power to define ourselves, our "opponents," and our circumstances in ways that can either inspire protective, constricted, secretive, "armed" responses, or inclusive, open, sharing "pro-active" peaceful responses.
The author is to be praised for noting early on in the book that "Ethical and moral questions are no longer fuzzy religious concepts but key elements in the relationship any organization has with colleagues, stakeholders, and communities." I would extend that to note that social ethics and foreign policy ethics are the foundation for sustainable life on the planet, and we appear to be a long way from understanding that it is ethics, not guns, that will stabilize and fertilize...Cf Jonathan Schell, "Unconquerable World."
It also merits comment that the author essentially kills the industry of forecasting, scenarios, modeling, and futures simulations. I agree with her view (and that of others) that early warning is achieved, not through the theft of secret plans and intentions or the forecasting of behavior, but rather by casting a very wide net, listening carefully to all that is openly available, sharing it very widely (as the LINUX guys say, put enough eyeballs on it, and no bug will be invisible), and then being open to changed relationships. Trying to maintain the status quo will simply not do.
I give the author credit for carrying out an extraordinary survey of the literature on quantum mechanics, and for developing a PhD-level explanation of why old organization theory, based on the linear concepts of Newtonian physics, is bad for us, and how the new emergent organization theory, understood by too few, is let about the things and more about the relationships between and among the things.
This is an elegant essay and a heroic personal work of discovery, interpretation, and integration. While I would have liked to see more credit given to Kuhn, Drucker, Garfield, Brand, Rheingold, and numerous others that I have reviewed here for Amazon, on balance, given the academic narrowness of her Harvard PhD, I think the author has performed at the Olympic level. This is a radical book, somewhat reminiscent of Charles Hampden-Turner's book, "Radical Man," which as I recall was not accepted by Harvard as a thesis at the time. Perhaps Harvard is evolving (smile).
For other key books that complement and precede this book, see my lists on information society, collective intelligence, business intelligence, and intelligence qua spies and secrecy in an open world.
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Summary: Starting Point for Complexity and Leadership
Review: This book should be the starting point for anyone interested in the implications of complexity theory and leadership. Wheatley starts with the physical sciences as a starting point and then applies lessons learned in modern physics to lessons we can learn in modern organizations. Social science research including management "science" have sought the holy grail of objectivity and rationalism that we all thought that the physical and biological sciences were based on. Wheatley reveals to the lay person that our assumptions about hard science were not correct and helps to build a new foundation for leadership scholarship based on the complexity that permeates all scientific inquiry.
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Summary: A Leap of Faith proved by Science!
Review: This book was a wonderful affirmation for me. I know that there is energy in a greater purpose and to be wary of our perceptions and in this book Margaret shows us that science knows these truths too! I have never been one to be that into Science in general but this book takes it to another realm and makes it approachable. The discussion on Quantum Theory is totally cool esp the Quantum fields, that we can and should take responsibility in shaping. Also, after reading this book you'll have all the supporting details you'll need to debate the danger of command and control leadership. Margaret concludes with another fact--accept Chaos it's all around us- live with it just on the edge; it's a beautiful view!
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Summary: SEEING THE WORLD THROUGH THE LENSES OF THE NEW SCIENCES.
Review: This is a completely revised and expanded edition of this 1992 publication. The author discusses the implications of chaos theory, quantum physics and other branches of the new science for managing organizations and our own lives. A central theme is that the new sciences offer metaphors and new ways of seeing reality giving insights into organization, leadership and, in general, change. A new chapter is devoted to understanding how change happens and how individuals can address the challenge of change in their work and personal lives. This is intended to be a thought provoking work and it succeeds. It does not provide answers to specific organizational and leadership challenges, but it opens one's mind to seeing such challenges in different perspectives. Recommended. Reviewed by Gerry Stern, founder, Stern & Associates, author of Stern's Sourcefinder The Master Directory to HR and Business Management Information & Resources, the CyberSpace SourceFinder, and the Compensation and Benefits SourceFinder.
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