When a system is in turbulence, the turbulence is not just out there in the environment, but is a part of the organization or organism that you are looking at.

One of the functions of an organization, of any organism, is to anticipate the future, so that those relationships can persist over time.

Our society lacks a feedback loop for controlling technology: a way to gauge intended effects from actual effects later on

Managers tend to treat organizations as if they are infinitely plastic. They hire and fire, merge, downsize, terminate programs, add capacities. But there are limits to the shifts that organizations can absorb.

Your greatest job is shedding what you don't have to do.

The organization and the environment are in concert.

We tend to think of the mind of an organization residing in the CEO and the organization's top managers, perhaps with the help of outside consultants that they call in. But that is not really how an organization thinks.