July 21, 2024

Enthinkment Circle explores three metaphysics crises facing 10 Organizational Development and Change (ODC) approaches to Storytelling Organizations.

Video link

Over the past 40+ years I worked and studied in 8 of the 10 (all but re-engineering, and Black Quantum Futurisim). I the case of BQF, I did teach Karen Barad theory at NEWMEXICOSTATE and developed quantum storytelling with colleagues.

The three main crises of ODC's metaphysics are entangled in the human-posthuman and the World/Being --- and --- Bracketing the world (e.g. Edmund Husserl).

1. Crisis of Metaphysics of Progress
2. Crisis of Metaphysics of Presence
3. Crisis of Metaphysics of Dualities

Here are the 10 approaches reviewed and discussed that manifest quite different positionalities on the three crises:

1. Black Quantum Futurism (applying Baradian quantum agential realism)
2. Participative design for participative democracy PDPD (Fred & Merrelyn Emery)
3. True Storytelling (Larsen, Brauun, & Boje)
4. Process Consultation (Edgar Schein)
5. Socio Economics (Savall, Zardet, Bonnet)
6. Re-engineering (Hammer & Champy)
7. (classical) organizational development
8. Action Research (Kurt Lewin, ...)
9. Appreciative Inquiry (David Cooperrider and Suresh Srivastva)
10. Transorganizational development (Massarik, Tannenbaum, McDonough, Culbert, Lasko)

There are also overlaps as shown in the Venn diagram discussed.

The positionalities of these 10 ODCs are vastly different approaches to consulting to storytelling organizations (see Boje 1991, 1995, 2008 for more). I attended events in process consulting and Transorg, as well as OD while a prof at UCLA. At New Mexico State University I worked for 20 years, making yearly visits to Franc to study and then teach and consult in Socio-economic approach.

Thank you

References

Barad, K. (2021). On touching the stranger within–The alterity that therefore I am. The Poetry Project, 29.

Boje, D. M. (2017). The storytelling organization: A study of story performance in an office-supply firm. In The Aesthetic Turn in Management (pp. 211-231). Routledge. 1st published Administrative Science Quarlterly 1991

Boje, David M. "Stories of the storytelling organization: A postmodern analysis of Disney as “Tamara-Land”." In Postmodern management theory, pp. 421-459. Routledge, 2019. First published Academy of Management Journal 1995.

Boje, D. M. (2019). Storytelling organization” is being transformed into discourse of “digital organization. M@ n@ gement, 22(2), 336-356.

Boje, D. M., Burnes, B., & Hassard, J. (Eds.). (2012). The Routledge companion to organizational change. London: Routledge.

Boje, D., & Jørgensen, K. M. (2020). A ‘storytelling science’approach making the eco-business modeling turn. Journal of Business Models, 8(3), 9-26.

Boje, D., Pelly, R. D. M., Saylors, R., Saylors, J., & Trafimow, S. (2022). Implications of Tamara-Land consciousnesses discourses for organization culture studies. Discourses on Culture, 16(1), 101-123.

Boje, D., & Rosile, G. A. (2003). Comparison of socio‐economic and other transorganizational development methods. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 16(1), 10-20.

Boje, D. M., & Wolfe, T. J. (1989). Transorganizational Development: Contributions to theory and practice. Readings in Managerial Psychology. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, USA.

Larsen, J., Boje, D. M., & Bruun, L. (2020). True storytelling: Seven principles for an ethical and sustainable change-management strategy. Routledge.

Phillips, R. (2023). Black Quantum Futurism. Journal of Architectural Education, 77(1), 9-19.