My thanks to Tom Hitchman of Perspectivity for directing me to Leadership:Margaret Wheatley-finding our way - Supporting Pioneering leaders.
I'll be pointing people to her work in future, partly because she write so clearly about things I've been struggling to express.
She writes:
I no longer spend any time trying to fix or repair the old or to improve old leadership methods. I spend all of my time now supporting those giving birth to the new, those pioneering with new approaches to organizing and leading. They practice consistent innovation and courage - wherever they see a problem, they also see a possibility. They naturally think in terms of interconnectedness, following problems wherever they lead, addressing multiple causes rather than single symptoms. They think in terms of complex global systems yet also work locally.
She also writes
Life's process for change is termed emergence, and it is how local efforts achieve global impact. Change begins as local actions spring up simultaneously around the system. If these changes remain disconnected, nothing happens beyond each locale. However when they become connected, local actions can emerge as a powerful influence at a more global or comprehensive level.
Emergent phenomina always have these characteristics:
- * They are much more powerful that the sum of their parts
* they always possess capacities that are different from the local actions that engendered them
* they always surprise us by their appearance.
Emergence only happens through connections. Therefore any process that can catalyze connections becomes the means to achieve change at a global level. When we name, connect, nourish, and illuminate the work of local leaders, we are working intentionally with this powerful process. Through emergence, their small, local efforts can become a global force for change, powerful enough to create the world we all desire, where the human spirit is known as the blessing, not the problem.
Read more at Leadership:Margaret Wheatley-finding our way - Supporting Pioneering leaders.
Dadamac is local and global
For the last few years the most visible side of Dadamac's work has been with John Dada and Fantsuam Foundation in North Central Nigeria. That is the main local side. There are other local projects we connect with too, but at present we don't have the resources to support their visibility. However we are not just about local projects.
Our less visible work has to do with a much wider picture. It's therefore refreshing and encouraging to find such strong explanations related to "where Dadamac's work is placed". The ideas that Margaret Wheatley writes about tie in with our understanding, our insights and our practical experiences.