Inspired Leadership: Seeing organisations as living systems

April 21-25, 2008
(One week only)

Margaret Wheatley

This course is now full. You can register to go on the waiting list for a place for this course by emailing admin@schumachercollege.org.uk

Participants will explore new approaches to how we think about organisations, in particular the potential and challenges of understanding organisations as living systems rather than machines.

Course Overview

“What is difficult to solve with one paradigm may be easy to resolve with a new one.” – Joel Barker.

This course is intended for professionals and managers who wish to develop their leadership potential and help transform their organisational culture.

Teachers

Margaret Wheatley is a world-renowned consultant and speaker who has worked on management issues with a wide range of companies, governments and agencies in all continents. She is author of Leadership and the New Science, A Simpler Way and most recently Finding our Way: Leadership for an Uncertain Time.

Timetable/Course content

Monday
Arrival by 1pm. Introduction to each other and College; Gaia theory and Schumacher philosophy.

Tuesday–Friday
Solving Intractable Organizational Problems: The New Science at Work
Today, organisations of all types struggle with several issues: Leadership; Human motivation; Accountability & measurement; Organisational and cultural change. Many dedicated people and exorbitant amounts of money have been expended on these issues, but the failure levels continue to rise.

Meg Wheatley believes these failures are a consequence of applying the wrong paradigm to how we understand and work with organisational dynamics. It is assumed that organisations and people are machines, rather than living systems. However, few leaders are curious about how a change in paradigms could contribute to greater effectiveness. Instead, as rusting mechanical images continue to fail, they apply old paradigm methods with greater speed, assertiveness and vehemence. The result is increasing worker disengagement, scapegoating of leaders, endless shifts in policies, and constant organisational restructurings.

This course is based on Meg’s experience of applying the paradigm of living systems as they relate to these intractable issues of leadership, motivation, change and measurement. But the course will go beyond these ideas and applications to explore what is required of us proposing such a profound shift in organisational world view. “As leaders, we need to become wise about the nature of this shift, the complexity of the challenge and the courage required of us if we are to succeed in bringing the new paradigm into effective action.”

Friday: Departure around 4pm.

Course Fees

For businesses: £1,500.
For individuals, NGOs & Educators: £1,200.
These include accommodation, food, field trips and all teaching sessions.

How to make an application – click here

For further information about Schumacher College please see About the College

New feature – reserve your place now

To provisionally reserve a place for 5 days, email us your contact details and the name of the course admin@schumachercollege.org.uk
We will hold the place for five working days for reservations – three weeks before a course or earlier. After five days we will automatically offer your place to someone else if we have not received your application.

Schumacher College is part of the Dartington Hall Trust, a company limited by guarantee, registered in England and as a charity (company no. 1485560, charity no. 279756). Registered office: The Elmhirst Centre, Dartington Hall, Totnes, Devon TQ9 6EL, UK.