Turning to One Another
As I mentioned in the New Rule: Leaders, You Go First, here are a few quotes and excerpts from Margaret Wheatley’s book. If they strike you, as they did me, buy the book.
Wheatley, Margaret. (2002). Turning to One Another. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass
These are some of my favorite quotes from this book. I referred to this book in the New Rule: Leaders: You Go First
Can we restore hope to the future?
Conversation is the way humans naturally think together.
We can’t be creative if we refuse to be confused.
It’s not our differences that divide us. It is our judgments about each other that do.
There is no power for change greater than a community discovering what it cares about.
Am I becoming someone I respect?
What is my faith about the future?
Am I willing to reclaim time to think?
What is my unique contribution to the whole?
The Following are some of the excerpts that I think are important as we restore hope in learning, teaching, and schools. My thanks to Michael Ayers my friend, colleague, and learning partner. He also puts notes of books together and was the major contributor to the following passages.
To advocate human conversation as the means to restore hope to the future is as simple as I can get. But I’ve seen that there is no more powerful way to initiate significant change than to convene a conversation. When a community of people discovers that they share a concern, change begins. There is no power equal to a community discovering what it cares about. …
Here are the principles I’ve learned to emphasize before we begin a formal conversation process:
We acknowledge one another as equals
We try to stay curious about each other
We recognize that we need each other’s help to become better listeners
We slow down so we have time to think and reflect
We remember that conversation is the natural way humans think together
We expect it to be messy at times. (p 29)
The gap between knowing and doing is only bridged by the human heart. (p 66)