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A Simpler Way
Margaret J Wheatley

I urge you to read this book. It is a perfect compliment to Leadership and the New Science.

When you pick up the book you will see it begins with pictures, not diagrams, charts, graphs. Not referenced pictures with explanations, but pictures.

It is structured around a poem.

It is written in words carefully chosen and reflecting emotion, hope and ambition.

If it seems the most unlikely business book, it is because we have been misled in our understanding of business.

We habitually dissect the world. Deeply ingrained is the belief that to understand the whole, we must analyse and understand the parts. We separate and dissect, and have ceased to see this packaging of our lives in discrete blocks as abnormal.

Work and organisations are separated by their special rituals, language and vocabulary.

At the heart of this is a belief encapsulated in the name ‘organisations’ – the belief that we need to organise.

Margaret Wheatley challenges this belief and asserts “The world knows how to create itself – It is self-organising. We don't have to be the world’s organisers.”

The book invites you to explore this idea, revealing paradox, challenging what you hold dear, questioning your beliefs and offering you insights that may transform your perceptions and future.

A description of the book here will be inadequate and seems irrelevant. To try to convince you that you should read it seems absurd. It is a hopeful and profound book that seeks to change your paradigms and change your life. If you’re of a mind to let a book try to do this, I’m sure you’ll not be disappointed.

Highly recommended

Steve Unwin
March 2009

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