In organizations, real power and energy is generated through relationships. The patterns of relationships and the capacities to form them are more important than tasks, functions, roles, and positions.
You can’t hate someone whose story you know.
Our willingness to acknowledge that we only see half the picture creates the conditions that make us more attractive to others. The more sincerely we acknowledge our need for their different insights and perspectives, the more they will be magnetized to join us.
Everyone in a complex system has a slightly different interpretation. The more interpretations we gather, the easier it becomes to gain a sense of the whole.
We would do well to ponder the realization that love is the most potent source of power.
In our daily life, we encounter people we are angry, deceitful, intent only on satisfying ere is so their own needs. There is so much anger, distrust, greed, and pettiness that we are losing our capacity to work well together.
We have created trouble for ourselves in organizations by confusing control with order.
Without aggression, it becomes possible to think well, to be curious about differences, and to enjoy each other’s company.
I’ve wanted to see beyond the Western, mechanical view of the world and see what else might appear when the lens was changed.
Circles create soothing space, where even reticent people can realize that their voice is welcome.
Whatever life we have experienced, if we can tell our story to someone who listens, we find it easier to deal with our circumstances.
Probably the most visible example of unintended consequences, is what happens every time humans try to change the natural ecology of a place.
Without reflection, we go blindly on our way...
We need to move from the leader as hero, to the leader as host.
Who you are depends on who you meet.
For us, someone who is willing to step forward and help is much more courageous than someone who is merely fulfilling the role.
I believe that the capacity that any organization needs is for leadership to appear anywhere it is needed, when it is needed.
In this present culture, we need to find the means to work and live together with less aggression if we are to resolve the serious problems that afflict and impede us.
In virtually every organization, regardless of mission and function, people are frustrated by problems that seem unsolvable.
We know from science that nothing in the universe exists as an isolated or independent entity.