Mary Parker Follett

Mary Parker Follett (1868 to 1933) was an American social thinker, social worker, political scientist and philosopher who became a pioneer of organizational theory, leadership and conflict resolution. Born in Quincy, Massachusetts, she studied at Radcliffe College and spent a year at the University of Cambridge, then worked for years in Boston settlement houses and in the movement to use schools as evening community centers. Her books The New State (1918) and Creative Experience (1924) argued for participatory democracy and for viewing self and society as constantly creating one another. Later she advised industry on both sides of the Atlantic, stressing lateral relations within organizations, power with others rather than power over them, and integration of differing views.