Turning to One Another: Simple Conversations to Restore Hope to the Future

by Margaret J. Wheatley

Overview

"I believe we can change the world if we start talking to one another again." With this simple declaration, Margaret Wheatley proposes that people band together with their colleagues and friends to create the solutions for real social change, both locally and globally, that are so badly needed. Such change will not come from governments or corporations, she argues, but from the ageless process of thinking together in conversation. Turning to One Another encourages this process. Part I explores the power of conversation and the conditions-simplicity, personal courage, real listening, and diversity-that support it. Part II contains quotes and images to encourage the reader to pause and reflect, and to prepare for the work ahead-convening truly meaningful conversations. Part III provides ten "conversation starters"-questions that in Wheatley's experience have led people to share their deepest beliefs, fears, and hopes.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781576759844
Publisher:	Berrett-Koehler Publishers
Publication date:	02/01/2009
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	182
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Margaret J. Wheatley is president of the Berkana Institute, a nonprofit education and scientific research foundation supporting the discovery of new organizational forms. She is the author of Leadership and the New Science, a groundbreaking international bestseller (translated into 12 languages), which was named Best Management Book of the Year by Industry Week magazine, one of the Top Ten Business Books of the 1990s by CIO magazine, and one of the Top 10 Business Books of All Time by Xerox Business Services Magazine. She is also the coauthor (with Myron Kellner-Rogers) of A Simpler Way.

Table of Contents

Part One: Turning to One Another
Now is the time
Welcome
Why I wrote this book
How to use this book
Can we restore hope to the future?
What I believe at this time
Simple processes
The courage of conversation
The practice of conversation
Willing to be disturbed

Part Two: A Place to Pause and Reflect

Part Three: Conversation Starters
Now it's your turn
1. Do I feel a vocation to be fully human?
2. What is my faith in the future?
3. What do I believe about others?
4. What am I willing to notice in my world?
5. When have I experienced good listening?
6. Am I willing to reclaim time to think?
7. What is the relationship I want with the earth?
8. What is my unique contribution to the whole?
9. When have I experienced working for the common good?
10. When do I experience sacred?
11. What is our role in creating change?
12. Can I be fearless?
Gestures of love
Turning to one another
Referenced quotes
About the author
A story from the Aztec people