Wheatley, Relationships and Collaborative Learning

Hi everyone. I've become quite a fan of Margaret Wheatley since doing research for my project. I've noticed that a few classmates have been inspired by her work as well. Wheatley describes the importance of relationships and collaboration beautifully. The UQ Post Grad Group aims to form relationships and lessen isolation. Here are some quotes and learnings from her book Finding Our Way (2005) that made an impact on me:

Relationships are essential to human life. Wheatley argues that from relationships, life creates systems that offer their members support, stability and opportunity. Wheatley writes, “Everywhere life displays itself as complex, tangled, messy webs of relationships. From these relationships, life creates systems that offer greater stability and support than life lived alone” (Wheatley, 2005, p.25) In an ideal system, information and energy is continuously exchanged between individuals. This sort of system improves capacities of both individuals and the system as a whole.

Our world should be a place in which "creative self-expression and embracing relationships are the organizing energies, where there is no such thing as an independent individual and no need for a leader to take on as much responsibility for us as we've demanded in our past." (p. 22)

A great force in life is the need for life "to link with other life, to form systems of relationships where all individuals are better supported by the system they have created." (p. 25)

She recognizes the struggle between individual and community, arguing that individualism and connectivity fit together naturally. She argues that individuals and communities should co-evolve, leading to “stability and protection that was not available when individuals were isolated” (p47).

“People’s great creativity and diversity, our desire for contribution and relationships, blossom when the heart of our community is clear and beckoning, and when we refrain from cluttering our paths with proscriptions and demands. The future of community is best taught to us by life” (p54).

The UQ Post Grad Group aims to form relationships and lessen isolation. Relationships are essential to human life. Wheatley argues that from relationships, life creates systems that offer their members support, stability and opportunity. Wheatley writes, “Everywhere life displays itself as complex, tangled, messy webs of relationships. From these relationships, life creates systems that offer greater stability and support than life lived alone” (Wheatley, 2005, p.25) In an ideal system, information and energy is continuously exchanged between individuals. This sort of system improves capacities of both individuals and the system as a whole.