Wave Rider: Leadership for High Performance in a Self-Organizing World

This book is about leveraging the power of self-organization for high performance in all sizes and types of organizations. Harrison Owen shows how self-organization is the most powerful force in organizations – but a force that is often muffled by well meaning yet constricting management and leadership practices. He reveals how self-organization is the magic behind the immense success of open space technology, and he applies the principles of open space technology to day-to-day management and leadership (not just to meetings and change programs, which is where open space technology has previously been most used).

Owen has written the book “from the fundamental premise that there is no such thing as a non-self-organizing system, although there may well be some mildly deluded individuals who think that they did the organizing and remain in control.” He writes that “as we learn to cooperate with the force of self-organization underlying our businesses and institutions, our own capacity for sustained performance at peak levels is magnified by multiple factors; but to the extent that we remain oblivious to this power, or even worse, seek to alter or control it, performance will decline.”

The primary audience for this book is all those who desire enhanced performance for themselves and their organizations. This includes all levels and aspects of organizational life, from the executive suite to the shop floor, as well as individual entrepreneurs, consultants, human resource professionals, organization development practitioners, and other change agents.

Another audience is all the thousands of individuals all over the world who have participated in open space technology events and who may have wondered how they could expand the benefit of that experience beyond the limited confines of a special event. The innovation, insight, and raw productivity that have become the hallmarks of open space events are in fact available 365 days of the year.

This book is written in Owen’s unique and interesting folksy writing style that adds to its readability.