Margaret J. Wheatley Quotes

I worked with a group of people who argued day and night - professors, officials, the Minister of Finance - but there were decisions that I had to make.

You don't have to use aggression to squash somebody. You have to use your brain.

Do not call for black power or green power. Call for brain power.

The only way to conduct an effective collaboration is to debate the things upon which you disagree. If one doesn't manage to bring the other around to his point of view, then whichever collaborator feels the most passionate about the thing being debated ought to get his way.

Majority rule is not the norm for solving issues or problems.

Because of the term ‘whip’, it is assumed that members can be beaten into submission, but I’ve seldom seen that be successful. It’s getting to know the individual, what they think, how they feel, what’s going on in their personal life, are they agonizers or quick deciders, what kind of leverage can be used with them or on them.

Politics is the art of making wha appearts to be impossible possible.

When we come into the NSC, everybody has different opinions. At the end of the day, we present the president with all the facts. We let him make the decision. And we all, as a team, go out and support that decision.

If I had a row with my husband, it's not going to work my saying, 'Right, if you don't do what I want, I'm going to walk out.' It doesn't work on any level. What you do is you go in and you say, 'I have a problem. You have a problem. Let's try and sort this out together.' You don't come to an agreement with people who you're falling out with badly.

'No' is a dynamic that you've got to master before you can ever master 'yes.'

If you are trying to get people to work on a problem together, it's best if they don't know where you, as the supervisor/manager, stand on the question.

Forcing polarized groups into a swarm allows them to find the answer that most people are satisfied with.

Students who learn to collaborate and negotiate - on Capitol Hill, in the board room, in everyday life - will outperform peers who have higher test scores.

Fair play doesn't pertain in bargaining. What matters there is leverage.

Not being a genius, I believe in collaboration, and my background as a problem solver means I've never been afraid to work with people cleverer than myself.

I'm not a good collaborator in general.

It's so much easier to throw rocks than it is to govern.

I don't know how you can understand other people or yourself if you haven't read a lot of books. I just don't think you're equipped to deal with the demands and decisions of life, particularly in your dealings with other people.

Surely, serious problems can't be solved just by talking about them.

During a negotiation, it would be wise not to take anything personally. If you leave personalities out of it, you will be able to see opportunities more objectively.

It's always really challenging trying to go from player to player/coach. You have a kind of friendship basis of relationship with all of your teammates, and now you go to this power position where you have to make decisions that might hurt people's feelings.

When men organize themselves into groups, and they make rules based on common or self-interest, it's always tangled and political.

Courage means to keep working a relationship, to continue seeking solutions to difficult problems, and to stay focused during stressful periods.

To attempt to superimpose its views through the exercise of force, is seldom the part of intelligence; it is frequently the part of ignorance.

The quality of a leader cannot be judged by the answers he gives, but by the questions he asks.