Rating: 
Summary: Sure to become classic in the management literature
Review: This is a must read book for anyone interested in leadership and the topic shouldn't intimidated anyone. Wheatley, who has revised her 1992 edition, does an amazing job of taking very complex concepts for the non scientist and making it completely assessable. Relatively speaking it is an easy-to read summary. You will have to concentrate, but it can be finished in a relatively short time frame. This is a book that I am glad to own and review periodically. There is a great list of suggested readings and an extensive bibliography. In the late eighties, I make the effort to read James Gleick's Chaos: Making a New Science. It took me forever and I thought the only thing that I remembered were the words: fractal, wave and particle. Wheatley reminded me of how much I had retained and more importantly gave me a context for this knowledge. It helps to look at the "big picture" with renewed hope and optimism. This is not a book of answers but of journeys. It is about ideas and concepts. It is about relationships and patterns between things. Don't expect any practical suggestions or How to do's. When it comes to these kinds of topics, many individuals wait in the wings to make criticisms and disparaging remarks. As far as I can tell, Wheatley is highly respected in the scientific community and business sector. So she should be. This and her follow-up book A Simpler Way, are sure to become classics in the management literature.
Rating:
Summary: Sure to become classic in the management literature
Review: This is a must read book for anyone interested in leadership and the topic shouldn't intimidated anyone. Wheatley, who has revised her 1992 edition, does an amazing job of taking very complex concepts for the non scientist and making it completely assessable. Relatively speaking it is an easy-to read summary. You will have to concentrate, but it can be finished in a relatively short time frame. This is a book that I am glad to own and review periodically. There is a great list of suggested readings and an extensive bibliography. In the late eighties, I make the effort to read James Gleick's Chaos: Making a New Science. It took me forever and I thought the only thing that I remembered were the words: fractal, wave and particle. Wheatley reminded me of how much I had retained and more importantly gave me a context for this knowledge. It helps to look at the "big picture" with renewed hope and optimism. This is not a book of answers but of journeys. It is about ideas and concepts. It is about relationships and patterns between things. Don't expect any practical suggestions or How to do's. When it comes to these kinds of topics, many individuals wait in the wings to make criticisms and disparaging remarks. As far as I can tell, Wheatley is highly respected in the scientific community and business sector. So she should be. This and her follow-up book A Simpler Way, are sure to become classics in the management literature.
Rating:
Summary: 6 stars if they were available
Review: This may not be the book for everybody. It (like Meg's other) evokes the poetry of science (not the oxymoron one might think) that provokes rather than prescribes. This is not for those pining for the next Martha (Stewart) of linear wisdom. It is for those bold enough to apply new frames to the emerging business landscape. I have required and will continue to require this read to MBA students who want to succeed in a world that at best makes no sense, but must be navigated for its quantum possibilities nevertheless.
Rating:
Summary: What a find!
Review: Wheatly touches scientific breakthroughs in the areas of quantum physics, chemistry, and biology. Other topics that are covered include chaos theory and change. She uses discoveries in quantum physics to explain that the universe is interconnected and relies on an infinite series of relationships. Biology and chemistry discoveries are used as metaphors to explain that disequilibrium and change are requirements for systems to grow and survive in our ever-changing universe. Chaos theory is used to explain that chaos is needed to create new order. She explains that stability is never guaranteed and should not be desired. Fractals are used as metaphors to explain these concepts. It went along with the movie "Mindwalk" very well.
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