Rating: 
Summary: Good concepts taken a little too far.
Review: By relating quantum mechanics, self-organizing systems and chaos theory to how organizations function, Margaret Wheatley succeeded in moving my frame of reference around a little bit.The concept I liked best was that while personal relationships and other matters often have a chaotic, random nature when viewed individually, they still function within definable, predicitable boundaries when viewed from a distance. However, this is where Dr. Wheatley's analysis starts to break down. She seems to have a longing desire to extrapolate quantum phenonena to larger and larger systems -- for example, her desire for "leaving behind the clocklike world of Newton" (Paperback, pp147) when looking at organizations. The problem is that while quantum mechanics explains events at a very small scale (like electrons or people), it does poorly explaining events at a larger scale (objects or organizations). We can no more throw out the teachings of Newton than we can thro! w off any other law of nature. Another concept where Dr. Wheatley misses the point is entropy. Although self-organizing systems sound great, the second law of thermodynamics says they can only overcome entropy when additional energy is added. Just like in an organization -- entropy can only be overcome by hard work, not by wishing it away or pretending it doesn't exist. All that being said, this is one of those books that makes good airplane reading. It's a pretty easy read and it does make you think.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent resource for principals!
Review: I am ordering copies for all 23 middle school principals and the two assistant principals leading two middle school programs in the Milwaukee Public Schools system. We will use Wheatley's book as the primary resource for our professional growth at our MPS Middle School Principals Collaborative institute August 9-11, 1999. We are not just concerned with reform; we seek renewal as well. Wheatley provides the basis. She notes that Einstein said that a problem cannot be solved from the same consciousness that created it. The entire book is a marvelous exploration of this philosophy!
Rating:
Summary: A superb new direction in thinking about organizations
Review: I noticed that the other reviewers make much about Wheatley's comments about quantum mechanics vis-a-vis management, but little about her much more relevant comparisons to chaotic behavior. Chaos requires basically two things- at least three variables and a process of feedback. I guarantee that both conditions are met in business. She has hit the mark about why things go wrong in the way they do, despite (or perhaps because of) what managers do to try to prevent them. Some readers have stressed the lack of concrete directions in the book, but that is really much of the point- you CAN'T strategize directly for chaos. You can only set up organizations that are robust enough to grow and change and survive when the chaos comes. One of the most enlightening books I have read in years.
Rating: 
Summary: Ernst Mach's Antithesis
Review: In her book "Management and the New Science", Margaret Wheatley attempts to take scientific principles and illustrate how they can benefit managers. Not an unworthy goal, but this book is about as scientific as "Saved by an Angel". Throughout the book Wheatley continually attributes human values and metaphysical meanings to physical phenomena, resulting in a book that reads like a weird hybrid of Scientific American and L. Ron Hubbard's "Dianetics". The fundamental failure of the book lies in the fact that Wheatley never uses any sort of scientific metodology to assess her hypothesis. She is able to offer cogent arguments at various points of the book, but arguments that sound good do not constitute viable scientific proof of her assertions. While this book may be unfit for any scientific discussion, it does deserve a bonus point for being largely free of typographical errors. Rating: 2.
Rating:
Summary: Not a how-to book!
Review: It has been said that when a school of thought goes unchallenged, when we simply accept it as "the way things are", then we no longer hold the thought, it holds us. That is the value of this book: To present the science that has dominated Western thinking for three centuries and its effects on our world-view. The book then presents new discoveries in science that have replaced old thinking, then challenges us to revisit our world-view in light of the New Science. It is not prescriptive, nor should it be. It is about escaping the trappings of something you probably never challenge, then exploring the possibilities going forward.
Rating: 
Summary: if you can, avoid reading this book. Just waste your time
Review: KU MBA program is required to read this book for one of their course. It is really very disappointed after I read this book. No good logic in the book, no strong example to support the author's idea. Really waste of time.
Rating: 
Summary: Wheatley provokes the mind to rethink organizations
Review: Margaret Wheatley explores the reasons for the apparent failure of numerous contemporary managers to understand the nature of organizations. By drawing interesting parallels with new science, she challenges the traditional assumptions of organizations and leaves the reader with alternatives.
She urges redesigning organizations where relationships are valued, processes are allowed to flourish at varying speeds, with appropriate structures being formed to support these processes that ultimately help achieve organizational goals. Information flow is fundamental in this process.
She explains that a viable, open system in a state of non-equilibrium, constantly changing and morphing is preferable over a stable, balanced system in equilibrium or stasis. It implores organizations to change form constantly to meet the changing needs of the environment, arguing that organizations develop greater freedom from the environment through this very change process.
Wheatley has made a great attempt to validate and provide legitimacy to new management principles by providing connections to important scientific discoveries of the last century. A "must read" book for new age leaders.
Rating:
Summary: Wheatley provokes the mind to rethink organizations
Review: Margaret Wheatley explores the reasons for the apparent failure of numerous contemporary managers to understand the nature of organizations. By drawing interesting parallels with new science, she challenges the traditional assumptions of organizations and leaves the reader with alternatives.
She urges redesigning organizations where relationships are valued, processes are allowed to flourish at varying speeds, with appropriate structures being formed to support these processes that ultimately help achieve organizational goals. Information flow is fundamental in this process.
She explains that a viable, open system in a state of non-equilibrium, constantly changing and morphing is preferable over a stable, balanced system in equilibrium or stasis. It implores organizations to change form constantly to meet the changing needs of the environment, arguing that organizations develop greater freedom from the environment through this very change process.
Wheatley has made a great attempt to validate and provide legitimacy to new management principles by providing connections to important scientific discoveries of the last century. A "must read" book for new age leaders.
Rating:
Summary: Good concept, poor writing.
Review: Ms. Wheatley succeeds admirably at her chief aim: forcing the reader to re-think assumptions concerning organizational behavior which are almost never challenged. While attempting to lead several sacred cows to a philosophical slaughter (controlling a situation leads to stability, equilibrium is a desirable organizational state, disorder leads to ineffectiveness, etc.), she explores the possible corallaries of quantum physics and organizational structure. The author's "arguments" are really philosophical statements. Her proof consists of asking "What if" and "Could it be that . . . " As long as the reader accepts this method of developing a proposition, the book succeeds admirably as a departure point for further discussion. However, do not expect tightly written arguments which show concrete examples of her theories in practice at the organizatiopnal level.If one hopes to find proof for the hypotheses advanced here, disappointment will likely be the result. It is possible that such proof will never be forthcoming and may even be antithetical to her position that systems change so quickly that they defy discrete analysis. However, those who read this book in hope of opening their mind to new possibilities will not be disappointed. Her thoughts on systems analysis, information flow and team work are enlightening and provocative. The descriptions of quantum physics and chaos theory are informative and mind-stretching, if scant on details. I will be re-reading this book several times; that by itself says a great deal.
Rating:
Summary: Organizational Analysis: Bringing Chaos to Order
Review: Ms. Wheatley succeeds admirably at her chief aim: forcing the reader to re-think assumptions concerning organizational behavior which are almost never challenged. While attempting to lead several sacred cows to a philosophical slaughter (controlling a situation leads to stability, equilibrium is a desirable organizational state, disorder leads to ineffectiveness, etc.), she explores the possible corallaries of quantum physics and organizational structure. The author's "arguments" are really philosophical statements. Her proof consists of asking "What if" and "Could it be that . . . " As long as the reader accepts this method of developing a proposition, the book succeeds admirably as a departure point for further discussion. However, do not expect tightly written arguments which show concrete examples of her theories in practice at the organizatiopnal level.If one hopes to find proof for the hypotheses advanced here, disappointment will likely be the result. It is possible that such proof will never be forthcoming and may even be antithetical to her position that systems change so quickly that they defy discrete analysis. However, those who read this book in hope of opening their mind to new possibilities will not be disappointed. Her thoughts on systems analysis, information flow and team work are enlightening and provocative. The descriptions of quantum physics and chaos theory are informative and mind-stretching, if scant on details. I will be re-reading this book several times; that by itself says a great deal.
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