On the twenty-fifth anniversary of the publication of her classic Leadership and the New Science, bestselling author Margaret Wheatley once again turns to the new science of living systems to help leaders persevere in a time of great turmoil.
Who Do We Choose to Be? is a book that offers a path for leaders to engage wisely with the destructive dynamics of this time that manifest at every level, from individual to organizational to global. We enter the path by facing reality, wanting to see with clarity and discernment where we are and how we got here. Because of her own studies and experiences, Wheatley has chosen to use the lens of new science to understand where we are and why we ended up here.
Wheatley focuses on eight dynamics common to all living systems, each given its own section. For each dynamic, an essay details what new science teaches about the dynamic. Next, short essays apply this lens to today's culture, illuminating the causes of many of our most troubling and perplexing behaviors and trends. The last section is Wheatley's personal recollections of leaders who used this dynamic in healthy and life-affirming ways.
The book is a form of exploration that offers a relaxed and fruitful process of inquiry. To understand how we got here requires more than rational analysis. It requires a dwelling mind where a multiplicity of influences and factors are considered before any insight can reveal itself. Finally, the book presents a question to leaders: whom do you choose to be as a leader for this time?