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We explore Pope Francis's "integral ecology" in the encyclical Laudato Si (Francis, 2015) as it provides us with an agenda for a planetary virtue ethic that should inspire the field of Organizational Development to reconsider the moral implications of our work. We begin by offering the framework of virtue ethics as a way of understanding Laudato Si (LS). We then summarize the argument in LS as it focuses on four ecological issues—climate change, pollution, water, and the plight of the poor as we tease out the document's implicit virtue ethic. Finally, we propose how OD practitioners can become more aware of the lens through which they approach their task, thereby coming to regard organizational change initiatives and moral-identity development as a single, undifferentiated, act. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article traces the contributions to psychological theory and practice of Theodore R. Sarbin over a career that began in the 1930s and ended with his death in 2005. His early research on clinical vs. actuarial prediction and on hypnosis reflected a disposition to be critical of received ways of thinking in psychology. He came to think of many of the terms in the psychological vocabulary as ossified metaphors turned into myths. His promotion of role theory within social psychology gave priority to social structure as the key to understanding conduct, and he saw the self and social identity as products of the interaction of the individual with society. He rejected both mentalism and mechanism as adequate approaches to psychology. He turned to contextualism as the preferred world view for psychology, and to narrative as a way of understanding the flow of human life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ted Sarbin was born on May 8, 1911 in Cleveland, Ohio. He died on August 31, 2005, in Carmel, California. He was born into a poor Jewish family from eastern Europe, and died at his home — beloved by his friends and family, and acclaimed by his professional colleagues as a psychologist of distinction. This article traces the course of his life — with special attention to the formative influences in his education as a psychologist. As a psychologist, he became a significant critical voice — arguing for a psychology that would embrace narrative as a principle of understanding human life, and contextualism, as opposed to mechanism, as a world view. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How can leaders adopt a mindset that maximizes learning, remains responsive to short-term emergent opportunities, and simultaneously strengthens longer-term dynamic capabilities of the organization? This chapter explores the organizational decisions and practices leaders can initiate to extend, strengthen, or transform "ordinary capabilities" (Winter, 2003) into enhanced improvisational competence and dynamic capabilities. We call this leadership logic the "jazz mindset." We draw upon seven characteristics of jazz bands as outlined by Barrett (1998) to show that strategic leaders of business organizations can enhance dynamic capabilities by strengthening practices observed in improvising jazz bands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our aim in this chapter is twofold: first, to review briefly the history of the hermeneutic traditions; second, to examine its influence in organization studies. We begin with a review of hermeneutic philosophy including ancient Greek origins and Biblical hermeneutics. We then delve more deeply into the work of 20th-century hermeneutic philosophy, particular/v Heidegger, Gadamer, and Ricoeur, to demonstrate how hermeneutics became a field that is concerned not only with texts but also with verbal and non verbal forms of action and the preunderstanding that makes any interpretation possible. Finally, we explore how hermeneutic philosophers claim that interpretation is the mode by which we live and carry on with one another. In the third section, we suggest that the field of organizational studies has discovered the relevance of hermeneutic theory, a rarely explicitly acknowledged debt. In particular, we outline the influence of hermeneutic theory on several figural areas, including culture, sensemaking, identity, situated learning, and organizational dialogue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article we trace the historical transformations of the word 'honor' in Western cultures as initially an extrinsic conception equivalent to reputation and social status and later as a moral category independent of external reference. The virtue of 'honor' is a window into the dynamics of identity maintenance. By tracing the transformations of 'honor' in different cultures through history, we can see how moral categories and notions of self-identity are related and how they evolve. We illustrate modern notions of identity by citing from a study of identity narratives of US Naval officers; we also draw upon the Dreyfus Affair as an illustration of the shift of honor from extrinsic to intrinsic moral marker. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article describes how managers and executives can use Appreciative Inquiry (AI) to promote democratic organizing to involve multiple stakeholders and generate strategic policy. Planned, temporary spaces where democratic organizing can occur may benefit and enhance the change capacity of command and control cultures without replacing or discounting basic organizing structures. We describe democratic organizing in the context of the Appreciative Inquiry Summit, a large-system change initiative that uses dialogic democratic processes to inspire positive change. A case study of ongoing AI Summits within the United States Navy offers an example of democratic organizing in a command and control environment. We suggest that within a temporarily organized space like the AI Summit, normative consciousness, holistic collegiality, and communal conviction are key principles of democratic organizing. These design principles not only foster organizational democracy, but they also promote effective and collaborative relationships across organizational levels and functional boundaries well after the intervention has ended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on the ways of dealing with critical events by scientific observers while still being competent practitioners. Dual awareness and offering of various strategies or moves that serve as resource to guide negotiations in constructive directions; Concerns of introducing novelty when parties might be searching for control or predictive outcomes; Requirement of intuitive skill on the part of negotiators who must fashion ironic, humorous reframing or surprising interventions.

Drawing from a social constructionist theoretical orientation, and a range of congenial practices, we propose the concept of transformative dialogue which stresses relational, self-expression,affirmation, coordination, reflexivity, and the co-creation of new realities. We see conversational moves that accomplish these aims as highly promising; at the same time there is no attempt in the present article to suggest these as ultimate solutions to employ in situations of conflict. The present is an attempt to generate a potentially useful vocabulary rather than a strict set of rules for negotiating among incommensurate realities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on importance of human cosmogony, the human creation of world through contingencies, accidents and choices. Attempt to rediscover the original intentions and choices of predecessors. The field of organizational theory has been characterized largely by a structural-functionalist orientation to social life. There has been a research tendency to study organizations as made up of structures that perform functions for the necessary survival of the overall system. The methods that further this theoretical orientation have been largely logical-positivist and have led researchers to focus attention to uncovering patterns in social life, to demonstrate transhistorical, enduring regularities in order to demonstrate the stability and overall social order of organizations. The structuralist-functionalist orientation has generated research that attempts to measure social structures and emphasizes the sense of order, the ongoing maintenance of organizations. Research has focused on the givenness of the present order and largely ignored the past, the historical.

The article aims to explicate some principles of metaphorical constructions, define metaphor and identify its properties not so much as a linguistic construct but as a unit of thought and illustrate their relationship with the process of group development. Propositions concerning metaphor and group process are put forth that suggest how: (1) paying attention to metaphors are indicators of a group's phase of development and can lead to a discovery of the tacit awareness of group members, (2) metaphor facilitates learning and overcomes resistance to otherwise difficult subjects, (3) metaphor is generative and facilitates contact between group members and in this way supports the growth and development of the group, and (4) as individuals articulate metaphors to express their feelings and perceptions while attempting to understand their experience in a group, they are constructing their own social reality. Therefore, to look at the group's metaphors is to see the group development, to identify the social construction of reality in its nascent stages. To support these propositions, data from various laboratory group experiences are cited.

Reconceptualizes the organizational change process from a rational planning perspective to an interpretive perspective emphasizing the social construction of meaning. Role of discourse in change; Importance of dialogue in change; Constructionist perspective; Interpretive view of knowledge; Implications for research and for managers.

Proposes the use of generative metaphor to help a group liberate itself from dysfunctional conflict and defensive routine. Intervention at a tacit, indirect level of awareness; Generation of fresh perceptions among group members; Reduction of interpersonal conflict; Renewal of collective will to act.

Offers a model of leadership development based on the metaphor of jazz improvisation. Examines the meaning of improvisation as applied to jazz and shows how managers' lives are similar to that faced by jazz improvisers in that they often face problems which are unstructured and ambiguous. Shows how the metaphor can be applied to other areas of organizational innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on jazz improvisation as an example of an organization designed for maximizing learning and innovation. The article makes reference to Karl Weick's book "Management as Improvisation: Lessons From the World of Jazz," and takes an-depth look at the characteristics of jazz improvisation and how they relate to management issues.

The article presents the author's views on how jazz improvisation parallels corporate organization. There is an analysis of the jazz song "All of Me," by Gerald Marks and Seymour Simon, and a discussion on minimal structures within a song and what jazz improvisation involves. The analysis, which breaks the song down into its individual notes, demonstrates how corporate management can be handled with structure and improvisation.