Go on, Get out There and Communicate

In her fabulous book Leadership and the New Science Margaret Wheatley claims "information is absolutely essential for the emergence of new order."  Who said anything about a new order? Isn't it easier to sit quietly, float gently with status quo, and wait until you are outside of work to live your real life? 

 

Some of the characters in Office Space beg to differ. In fact they burn the place down, steal money, and destroy faulty office equipment all because of poor organizational communication. Wheatley neatly sums up the problem and its consequences "Restricting information and carefully guarding it doesn't make us good managers. It just stops good people from doing good work." So how do we start to trust our colleagues enough to share knowledge and expertise and in turn generate new information? 

Wheatley describes how new information thrives in the remarkable process of a self-organizing system. This natural system does not suppress change, lock itself into any structure, knows who and what it is, and partners with its environment. All of this from good information? Well, what are you waiting for? Go on, get out there and communicate!