Who inspires me 3: Margaret Wheatley

“In these troubled, uncertain times, we don’t need more command and control; we need better means to engage everyone’s intelligence in solving challenges and crises as they arise.“

From the first time I read the work of Margaret Wheatley back in 2003 when I read her first book, Leadership and the New Science, I was struck by the originality of her thinking. In that book she was connecting together the ‘new’ sciences of chaos and complexity with the work of leadership. It was a refreshingly different book.

At the time I was just concluding my PhD thesis in which I drew heavily on poetry, fiction, art and music to look at archetypes in organisational change. It was a somewhat lonely path to be pursuing but one that I was really excited about.

Since then I have continued to read each book that Meg Wheatley releases – from that first ground-breaking book she has pushed the boundaries, using poetry (often her own), art and photography in her work. She has also taken her work, through the development of the Berkana Institute to communities all over the world and looked in depth at how to work to develop strong communities that are sustainable. She does this through compelling conversations which, more than anything else, work from those who are in the community and build from there, rather than dropping in from outside with ready-made solutions.

It has been a fascinating journey following the work that she has done. Her last book, ‘Walk Out Walk On’,  is a hugely inspirational work. Co-written with Deborah Frieze, it looks at work that has been carried out around the globe to find local solutions to massive problems. In each case, the solution is not what you would expect, and often it rewrites the world view. It takes a given and unravels it.

A couple of months ago I decided that it would be inspirational to work with Meg, someone whose work has been so inspiring. I wrote to her.  As I write this, we are in negotiations to get her to the North West of England as an add-on to a trip she already has planned to Wales. The plan is for her to work with us on looking at how we can sustain communities of practitioners so that they become strong places to support exciting careers.

Hopefully we can combine this with another workshop led by Etienne Wenger – another person who inspires me, but that is another story.