Leadership and the New Science: Discovering Order in a Chaotic World ANNOTATION
Based on new science theories, this innovative management book sheds light on the issues that affect organizations most--order and change, autonomy and control, structure and flexibility, planning and innovation. The hardcover was considered the number-one management book of 1992.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
Wheatley takes the reader on a mind-opening journey into the new science. Sharing her experiences applying these ideas in a vast array of organizations all over the world, Wheatley sheds new light on issues crucial to organizing work, people, and life, including: How can systems use chaos to create order? How is order different from control? How can we reconcile individual freedom and organizational standards? How can we create more participative, inclusive, and open organizations? What are the conditions that lead to organizational learning and adaptability?. "In a new Epilogue, Wheatley relates her personal chronicle of working in the world with the ideas in Leadership and the New Science. She has come to realize that her work not only presents a new view of organizational dynamics, but challenges people's most fundamental beliefs about the way the world works.
SYNOPSIS
Wheatley runs a research foundation that explores new structures for organizations. She argues that the organizations most people live and work in now are based on Newtonian images of the universe, then challenges readers to think about how systems can use chaos to create order, how order is different from control, how to reconcile individual freedom and organizational standards, and other ideas. She has revised the second edition based on reactions to the first in 1992 as well as to incorporate changes in the world. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
FROM THE CRITICS
Library Journal
How do you hold 100 tons of water in the air with no visible means of support? Wheatley answers this question (you build a cloud, of course) and many others, ranging from cutting-edge science to the new paradigm of 21st-century organizations, that are just as enigmatic. Using exciting breakthroughs in biology, chemistry, and especially quantum physics, Wheatley paints a brand-new picture of business management. Paradoxes abound in this far-reaching work that may confound many pragmatists. This new relationship between business and science is nothing less than an entirely new set of lenses through which to view our organizations, offering not a Newtonian but a quantum perspective. Hold onto the top of your head when you read this book. For larger public and academic libraries.-- Dale Farris, Groves, Tex.
AudioFile
In this revised edition of her 1992 book, Wheatley provides an overview of some dramatic changes in scientific thought, such as chaos theory and quantum physics, and then applies those theories to organizations. What kind of organizations? Organizations of all sizes and shapes and business. Wheatley reads her work competently, in a controlled, even voice. Her straightforward presentation offers few distractions and is easy listening. She integrates the theoretical with a range of practical examples from many of the organizations she has worked with. J.E.M. © AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine
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