Mary Parker Follett: Change in the Paradigm of Integration

Follett, M. P.The work of Mary Parker Follett, an intellectual pioneer of the early twentieth century, resists categorization or assignment to any one category or field of study. A political and management theorist, Follett proposed a renewed vision of participative democracy as she anticipated the future practice of conflict mediation and of management as a profession.Follett’s work, rooted in her integrative philosophy of addressing conflict and problems, is particularly and perennially relevant to managing change. The following chapter first presents the profound influences of Follett’s academic, personal, and professional experiences in shaping her perspectives. We then delve into what we view as Follett’s most important, enduring contributions to management study and practice – integration and circular response – as a paradigm for managing change. We highlight different contexts in which Follett has translated her integrative philosophy into practical concepts, such as power-with management, the law of the situation, the invisible leader and the common purpose, and circular behavior as the basis of integration. We will conclude this collective reflection by illustrating how Follett’s legacy is unfinished; her ideas endure and are relevant even today in governing our period of complexity and interdependent challenges. Follett still shows the way.