Review of Finding Our Way
By Margaret Wheatley

Reviewed by: Kelsey Ebben, Performa Research Associate

Finding Our Way

Margaret Wheatley begins Finding Our Way with a poignant statement about the need for humans to evoke our natural roots and make drastic changes in our societies. She states, "There is a simpler way to organize human endeavor.It is the ancient story demonstrated to us daily by life, not the life we see on the news with its unending stories of human grief and horror, but what we feel when we're in nature, when we experience a sense of life's deep harmony, beauty, and power" (p. 1). In this book, she continues the dialogue she began in 1992 with Leadership and the New Science, which described the changing world and its effect on our organizations. Old organization and leadership models are no longer effective in meeting the demands of today's changing world. In Finding Our Way, Wheatley offers a compilation of essays that advocate a new way of thinking about organizations and life as we journey into the twenty-first century.

Wheatley structures the book to convey two different themes. One theme revolves around the new paradigm of living systems. Humans are inherently a part of an efficient, interconnected system of life; however, we have constructed "mechanistic" organizations that oppose these natural processes. Wheatley explains that we must view organizations not as machines, but as living systems that can "self-organize, change, create, learn, and adapt" (p. 3). The second theme is an account of Wheatley's ongoing observations about leadership. She explains that the story of leadership is distressing, because "ever since uncertainty became our insistent twenty-first-century companion, leadership strategies have taken a great leap backward to the familiar territory of command and control" (p. 4). Wheatley discusses the implications of system thinking on leadership, and provides practical tips for leaders in today's world. Her book is broken into five sections: Organizing, Leadership, Obstacles, Personal, and My Own Footsteps. I will discuss each section, and then conclude with implications for higher education leaders.

The first section of her book, Organizing, centers on systems theory in organizations. Wheatley explains that the traditional organization model dehumanizes employees and goes against humans' natural organizing tendencies. She states, "Our own desire for autonomy and creativity is reflected in all of life. Life appears as boundlessly creative, searching for new possibilities and new capacities whenever it can" (p. 24). She later adds, "Life needs to link with other life, to form systems of relationships.Life is systems seeking. It seeks organization. Organization is a naturally occurring phenomenon" (p.25). Humans, therefore, seek the ability to be creative and work with others, yet organizations often do not provide workers these freedoms. Wheatley boldly argues that organizations only survive because employees break the stated rules, figure out what needs to be done, and find innovative solutions to problems. She argues for organizational change that would legitimize workers' innovative efforts.

Throughout the book, Wheatley provides practical ideas for leaders interested in implementing a systems organizational approach. One example is Wheatley's three conditions of self-organizing organizations. These include identity, information, and relationships. Organizations must have an identity, or "sense of self" that gives workers a driving purpose. Change can only occur when organization members are able to reflect on the organization's internal status and self-identify problems; outside events rarely provide an impetus to change. Information, the second element, must flow freely throughout an organization. Although free- flowing information looks and feels "messy," it is a necessary prerequisite for natural systems. Organizations are more effective when workers share information, because people are able to view their work from different perspectives and share ideas that would have previously been compartmentalized within departments. Relationships are the third element. Individuals must have easy access to one another within an organization. Workers often privately forge informal relationships with others that will allow them to efficiently complete their work; organizations need to foster and endorse this type of worker-initiated relationships. Humans have a natural desire to be in community with others and draw from the collective strengths and talents of all members. While our Western culture advocates individualism, it is important for organizations to revert to natural understandings of community if they are to thrive in a systems environment.

The second section of the book focuses on Leadership. Leaders have an integral role in creating a systems organization. Wheatley argues, "Given existing hierarchies, only leaders can commit their organizations to this path" (p. 43). Leaders must have trust and confidence in the organization members. However, in these uncertain times, leaders have been shying away from this role, and defaulting to traditional command and control. Wheatley comments, ".this is a familiar image- people in the organization ready and willing to do good work, wanting to contribute their ideas, ready to take responsibility, and leaders holding them back, insisting that they wait for decisions or instructions. The result is dispirited employees and leaders wondering why no one takes responsibility or gets engaged anymore.we need better means to engage everyone's intelligence in solving challenges and crises as they arise" (p. 65).

Wheatley explains that productivity and worker satisfaction improves when leaders give people more responsibility and autonomy. She advocates leaders provide employees with information, access to one another, resources, trust, and follow-through. In addition, leaders must find ways to engage people in their work, and build organization loyalty. She adds, "The organizations that people love to work in are those that have a sense of history, identity, and purpose" (p. 74). Leaders must also listen for diverse opinions, and recognize that a diversity of ideas is beneficial to the organization's ability to innovate and adapt. Leaders should engage all members in the creation of new ideas and policies, since "People support what they create" (p. 89). Wheatley argues that people will never truly "buy-in" to a policy they had no hand in creating.

In the third section, Obstacles, Wheatley comments on the difficulties that arise when leaders attempt to create a living systems organization. One particular obstacle is the process of "knowledge management," or an organization's attempt to harness and organize vast amounts of information. Wheatley advises that organizations expand their views of knowledge. She states, "As we rethink what we know about knowledge and how we handle the challenges of knowledge in organizations, our most important work is to pay serious attention to what we always want to ignore: the human dimension" (p. 148). Knowledge, she adds, is created when people are in relationship with one another. In organizations, this translates to a need to provide people with access to one another and recognize that every employee has knowledge to share. Knowledge is found everywhere, and is often tacit, rather than concrete, measurable numbers. In order to capitalize on this knowledge base, workers must feel valued and be invited to share their knowledge. Finally, Wheatley explains that traditional accountability measures prevent the free flow of knowledge. In too many organizations, she states, "The measures define what is meaningful rather than letting the greater meaning of the work define the measures" (p. 162). Organizations should tailor their standards and measures to meet their specific needs, and always remain open to new information.

In the last two sections of the book, Personal and My Own Footsteps, Wheatley focuses on the actions individuals can take to reclaim their role in the living system of life. She suggests humans be mindful of their interconnectedness, which means taking time to reflect, seek out different interpretations, and be patient, knowing that order will emerge out of chaos. Wheatley suggests we become more curious about others' beliefs, since "We can't be creative if we refuse to be confused" (p. 213). Wheatley reminds us take time to think, reflect, and listen to others before taking action.

Wheatley ends the book with a call to action regarding the state of our organizations and human life. Now that we are aware of the interconnectedness of life and the need to cooperate with other people for changes to occur, we must take action to solve the major problems facing our world today. She imparts her hope for the next generation's ability to make necessary life changes, and encourages all of us to share in that hope. Higher education institutions, therefore, by implementing a "living systems view" can instill in our youth a vision of a better future, which can be their reality. The following list provides helpful hints for higher education leaders interested in creating a systems organization:

Lessons from Organizing:

• Focus on the institution's shared sense of identity, free flow of information, and quality of relationships.
• Encourage the formation of communities of support among faculty and staff.
• Allow for people to innovate and think creatively about their work.
• Encourage individual and group reflection about the current and future state of the institution.

Lessons learned from the Leadership section:

• Trust and encourage faculty/staff, rather than use command and control- "Resist assuming the role of savior, even as people beg for it" (p. 116).
• Convey a sense of institutional history, identity and purpose.
• Invite all stakeholders -faculty, staff, students, community members- to the table when considering changes or new policies. Remember, people only support what they help create.

Lessons learned from the Obstacles section:

• Recognize all people in the institution hold important knowledge. They will only share this knowledge, however, if they feel valued and invited to do so.
• Knowledge is not just measurable, "number" information. Knowledge takes other, more abstract forms, such as interpretations and opinions.
• What is meaningful for the institution should dictate its measures and standards. Decide what is most important for the institution and then create measures to gauge progress.

Lessons learned from the Personal and My Own Footsteps sections:

• Take time to reflect - do not get caught up in our speed-focused culture.
• Seek diverse interpretations and hone listening skills.
• Encourage and teach youth to pursue a systems view of leadership.