Lessons in Letting Go
In her books Leadership and the New Science[1] and Finding Our Way,[2] Margaret Wheatley encourages leaders to adopt a philosophical change in how they approach leadership: in short, she is asking leaders to accept the unpredictable and the personal nature of work; suspending the traditional assumptions that control is required to achieve order. Counter to our culture, she claims that by letting go of control, we will increase efficiency and decrease stress.[3] She focuses on reinforcing the need for creativity, interconnectedness, embracing uncertainty and failure, and to rely on values.
In Leadership and the New Science, Wheatley seems to be introducing her new philosophy and to ground her arguments in observations of the natural world. While in Finding Our Way, she is restating her case for a different audience by promoting reflective practices and providing more practical examples.
Regardless of the method in which she presents her ideas or the audience to which she directs them, I appreciate her assertion to focus less on process and more on systems. In my own context, I see the limitations of looking at a situation in isolation instead of doing deep work in considering all the contributing factors and impacted stakeholders at play. Her assertion that we need to do due diligence in this space rings true. Ironically, I find myself wanting a check list on how to do this, which belies my process mindset.
Who is Margaret Wheatley?
To more fully understand her work, it is worth noting that Wheatley has what I see as an impressive resume. Let me do a quick rundown of her accomplished (and intimidating) background:
- In the 1960’s she served in the Peace Corps teaching high school English in South Korea.
- She holds a graduate degree in Systems Thinking and a Doctorate in Administration, Planning and Social Policy.
- She has won numerous awards, but perhaps the most striking is the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) has declaring her a “living legend.
- In the 70’s, she established herself as an Organizational Consultant. As a woman.
- She is 80 years old and this last September she published an article in School Administrator [4]
- Oh, and she has over 20 grandkids.[5]
Timeless Observations
At a few points in my review of Wheatley’s work, I found myself double-checking the copyright dates because what she had to say felt so timely. Drawing instruction from the natural world, Wheatley makes statements like:
We live in a time of great stirring storms, both natural and human-made. Disruptive elements seem to be afoot, gathering strength in air masses that spiral over oceans or in decisions that swirl through the halls of power.[6]
While written many years prior to the tensions we have experienced recently with extreme weather events, the COVID crisis or the January 6th insurrection, the words feel timely and relevant. And, in my own work context, with leaders grappling with unnerving levels of uncertainty, I believe that her more open-handed approach can be helpful.
What are my applications?
There is a lot to consider in Wheatley’s work, and I will be transparent in saying that my inspectional read leaves me wanting to take more time with her concepts; this is one book I believe I will pick up after our program is over. However, below I will draw some corollaries from what I heard her say, and what we have uncovered in other works in this cohort.
- Approaching with humility– “Humility is a brave act—we have to admit that we don’t have the answer.”[7] This idea that an effective leader must discard the expert role and adopt a position of curious humility took me back to our earlier review of the Drs. Schein in Humble leadership.[8]
- Putting down the need to control- “… we have created trouble for ourselves in organizations by confusing control with order”[9] As we discussed in the early days of this program with Friedman’s Failure of Nerve,[10] Wheatley is asking us to accept that as leaders, our work, our teams, and even ourselves will benefit if we create a strong practice of differentiation.
- Focus on Relationships- “We can now see the webs of interconnections that weave the world together…”[11] This week, through an article in Christianity Today,[12] I was reminded that even in the Lord’s prayer, there are subtle reminders of our need to think of ourselves as members of a community. Praying OUR father… OUR daily bread… OUR debts… puts a whole different emphasis on how we should consider our agendas and needs.
This quote from Simon Walker summarizes the themes I am pulling from Wheatley’s work:
What folly to think that we have the power of success and failure!…Our task, as human beings, as human leaders, is far more humble and close to home. It is to grow up. It is to learn, through the experiences we are given, who we are—what it means to be courageous, what it is to serve, what it is to be loved and to love, what it is to be real, what it is to be fully human.[13]
What are some ways that I need to courageously practice humility, side-step the problems caused by control and to reflect on the impact my work has on the complex relational web of my spheres? I am sure I have a lot to learn from this octogenarian “living legend.”
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[1] Margaret J. Wheatley, Leadership and the New Science: Discovering Order in a Chaotic World, 3rd ed. (San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler, 2006).
[2] Margaret J. Wheatley, Finding Our Way: Leadership for an Uncertain Time, 1st ed. (San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2005).
[3] Wheatley, Leadership and the New Science, 5.
[4]Wheatley, Margareth J. “Islands of Sanity.” School Administrator 81, no. 9 (09, 2024): 32-37. https://georgefox.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/trade-journals/islands-sanity/docview/3107513788/se-2.
[5] “Meg Wheatley.”
[6] Wheatley, Leadership and the New Science, 137.
[7] Wheatley, Finding Our Way, 184.
[8] Edgar H. Schein and Peter A. Schein, Humble Leadership, Second Edition : The Power of Relationships, Openness, and Trust, Second Edition, The Humble Leadership Series (Oakland, CA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2023), https://research.ebsco.com/linkprocessor/plink?id=cfcf765a-0126-3f66-83ab-2b2883d96624.
[9] Wheatley, Leadership and the New Science, 24.
[10] Edwin H. Friedman and Peter Steinke, A Failure of Nerve: Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix (10th Anniversary, Revised Edition) (New York: Church Publishing Incorporated, 2017).
[11] Wheatley, Leadership and the New Science, 158.
[12] Carmen Joy Imes, “Yours, Mine, and ‘Our Father,’” Christianity Today, November 14, 2024, https://www.christianitytoday.com/2024/11/2024-election-evangelicals-lords-prayer-jesus-church-unity-our-father/.
[13] Simon P. Walker, Leading Out of Who You Are: Discovering the Secret of Undefended Leadership (Piquant Editions, 2007);154
About the Author
Jennifer Vernam
6 responses to “Lessons in Letting Go”
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Hi Jennifer, What a great post. I appreciate how you pulled out the main points of the books so effortlessly and connected them to other authors we have read. So many connections in a book about interconnection! I too would like a checklist:) What would be at the top of your checklist that might help you consider systems over process?
Years ago, I read a book that applied family systems theory to the congregational life of the church. It opened up new ways to view the systems in the church. I wonder what Margaret Wheatley would think of that?
Thanks, Jenny- I love your idea of family systems… do you have the name of that book?
I think on my check list would be the process of digging deep to find as many impacted stakeholders as possible… that seems to be a step that is so often forgotten in my world. “No change occurs in isolation” a mentor has drilled into my head. As I was reading Wheatley, the concept of how complex Matrixed organizations have become kept coming to mind.
It’s a 30-year old book that I read 20-years ago but it helped me see and hear a little differently. I don’t have the book with me so can’t give much of a review. Though applied to the church it seems their would be some parallels in other organizations.
Church Conflict: The Hidden Systems Behind the Fights by Charles H. Cosgrove and Dennis D. Hatfield.
This was great. All of it. I especially appreciated the return to humility and the qustions you ask around that.
I think as leaders we’re concerned about chaos so we overcompensate with control and that doesn’t give space for humility.
But waht if we saw chaos as something that could only be approached collaboratively? What if we took a note from Genesis 1 and approached chaos in community like the Father, Son, and Spirit did, and realized that only then, and only one day at a time, could we bring order to chaos?
Not sure that’s in the Spirit by which she wrote about chaos, but the whole subject is making my synapses go off. Thanks for your broad syntopical approach.
Thanks, Tim-
“I think as leaders we’re concerned about chaos so we overcompensate with control and that doesn’t give space for humility.”
YES. Your comment makes me think about the belief that I think a lot of us hold that God is a God of order. What does it mean that we try to take on ordering things? Is that always healthy, or sometimes do we need to return to the backseat and “let” Him drive? How do we balance that with our job as stewards? More leadership tensions to manage.
Jen,
Thank you for pulling out the main points. I really appreciate you dedicating a portion of your blog to introducing us to who Margaret Wheatley is. It is incredible that she is still publishing at 80.