I'm sad to report that in the past few years, ever since uncertainty became our insistent 21st century companion, leadership has taken a great leap backwards to the familiar territory of command and control.
Margaret J. WheatleyRead
Passion mutates into procedures, into rules and roles. Instead of purpose, we focus on policies. Instead of being free to create, we impose constraints that squeeze the life out of us.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Passion can transform into restrictive systems, leading to a loss of creativity and purpose.
In this quote, Margaret J. Wheatley highlights the danger of allowing passion to become entangled in rigid procedures and policies. While initial enthusiasm drives creativity and innovation, the subsequent imposition of rules can stifle that same spirit, leading individuals and organizations to prioritize compliance over true purpose and freedom of expression. The quote serves as a reminder to maintain a balance between necessary structure and the nurturing of creative passion.
Themes
PassionCreativityFreedomConstraintsRulesPoliciesPurpose
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about innovation, one might say, 'Remember, passion mutates into procedures, so let's keep our creative spirits alive.'
More from Margaret J. Wheatley
All quotes βIn our daily life, we encounter people who are angry, deceitful, intent only on satisfying their own needs. There is so much anger, distrust, greed, and pettiness that we are losing our capacity to work well together.
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Even though worker capacity and motivation are destroyed when leaders choose power over productivity, it appears that bosses would rather be in control than have the organization work well.
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Our willingness to acknowledge that we only see half the picture creates the conditions that make us more attractive to others. The more sincerely we acknowledge our need for their different insights and perspectives, the more they will be magnetized to join us.
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They have eliminated rigidity, both physical and psychological, in order to support more fluid processes whereby temporary teams are created to deal with specific and ever-changing needs. They have simplified roles into minimal categories; they have knocked down walls and created workplaces where people, ideas, and information circulate freely.
Margaret J. WheatleyRead
It's not differences that divide us. It's our judgments about each other that do.
Margaret J. WheatleyRead
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