The most successful organizations understand that the purpose of any business is to create value for customers, employees, and investors, and that the interests…

When something goes wrong in an organization, the first question that is often posed is, “Whose fault is it?” When there’s data missing in…

Systems thinking can be thought of as a language for communicating about complexity and interdependencies (see “Systems Thinking as a Language,” Viewpoint, April 1991). To…

During the mid-1980s, a large high-technology company launched a project to begin thinking more systemically about strategy. “COPEX” (a fictional name) designed, manufactured, sold,…

Margaret Wheatley describes vision not just as a destination but as a field that permeates the organization, affecting all employees who bump against it.

Attempting to bring about organizational change through the internal transformation of individuals is difficult, yet it may be the most effective way. The belief…

Organizations today suffer from a severe disability when it comes to solving problems. In virtually every organization, regardless of mission and function, people are…

What makes a great collaboration? One view is that a collaboration is only as great as the individuals who collaborate within it. Another is…

Why are attempts to transform organizations usually painful and so often unsuccessful? Why is it that, even when leaders recognize the value of the…

The drive toward improvement has become a way of life in corporations today. Total Quality Management, Business Process Reengineering, and other improvement techniques have…