WRITING IN LEADERSHIP AND CHANGE - Vol 15 February 2008

ORGANISATIONS & PEOPLE - Index of Articles from Vol. 15 No. 1 February 2008

WRITING IN LEADERSHIP & CHANGE
A groundbreaking anthology which challenges change agents, leaders,
managers and other professionals to pay closer attention to how we
use writing in our work. Some questions raised include

How can writing be used effectively to inspire and empower the development
of organisations and individuals?

What are the underlying theories and specific approaches that are being
used to good effect?

What can we learn by sharing our experiences, practices and reflections
around writing and conversation?

How do we need to adapt the way we write to a digital and global
environment?

Copies can be obtained for £25 plus £2 postage from the AMED Office:
+44 (0)1480 459575, amed@amed.org.uk.

CONTENTS

WRITING IN LEADERSHIP AND CHANGE
Vicky Cosstick and Bob MacKenzie

An editorial overview of the genesis and content of this special themed
issue of O&P

WRITING WITHIN THE CIRCLE OF AUTHENTICITY
Vicky Cosstick

Explores the significance and interconnectedness of authenticity and
presence in a consultant’s work. She notes resonances in gestalt and
complexity theory and takes the idea of 'presence' in the work of
Patsy Rodenburg and applies it to the way she uses writing in her
work including emails, websites and responses to terms of
reference.

THE INCREASING VALUE OF KEYWORDS IN MARKETING
Neil Davidson

The increasing importance of internet search engines and search engine
data will offer new and surprising opportunities for business
leaders and change agents. Data is the key to new insights on
consumers and markets - insights based on real behaviours. Because
these insights are based on the words consumers use, it will offer
new and surprising opportunities to conventional advertising and
marketing agencies, business leaders and leaders of change.

COMPLEMENTARY FORMS OF WRITING FOR ORGANISATIONAL LEARNING
Rowena Davis

A discussion about learning the limits and benefits of using slide
presentations to present complex realities in order to bring about
organisational learning and change. The article includes the
importance of written reports and meetings to complement slide
presentations and enhance learning.




STRIKING MOMENTS AND REFLECTIVE WRITING
Alison Donaldson

Illustrates the use of experiments in reflective writing and reading
to stimulate learning and change in organisations.

AGENDA:
MANAGING MICRO-STRATEGY, CONFLICT AND CONSENSUS ARTFULLY
Peter Franklin

Co-operative writing can help to develop consensus in the management
of change. The principal investigative method of this proposition
is a piece of ethnographic fiction-science which provides a short
story for a subsequent brief discourse analysis. In the story, a
group of managers discover that the process of sharing documents for
review and comment helps to surface and resolve their conflicting
implicit agendas. Finally, the paper raises the possibility of a
theory of agenda which enables managers and facilitators to surface
and work with the multiplicity of personal meanings and agendas when
managing change.

WRITING INTERVENTIONS TO FACILITATE SELF AND OTHERS
Bob MacKenzie

Writing interventions are both an act or process and an outcome or product.
They are used by both facilitator and client principally to
facilitate effective leadership, learning and change. However,
writing is not a panacea, and not everyone feels comfortable with
writing. Hence writing interventions are only effective following
careful assessment of their specific context. Drawing upon the
author's experience and a review of literature, this article
introduces a theory of writing interventions, acknowledges some
limitations, and outlines some implications for wider application.

LETTER-WRITING AS AN APPRAISAL TOOL
Robert Marsh

Writing letters is an integral component of certain psychotherapeutic
traditions. This paper discusses the transfer of letter writing from
a therapeutic into an organisational context for use by managers as
part of the appraisal process. Both the outcomes and the processes
of using letters in appraisals are considered.

“IT’S WRITING, JIM, BUT NOT AS WE KNOW IT”: WRITING FOR THE
COMPUTER SCREEN
Paul Matthews

Explains why the way readers interact with screen-based writing
requires changes in the way we structure and format our writing for
the screen.

REFLECTIVE WRITING AND ORGANISATIONAL ANXIETY.
Hester O Connor

Speaking about anxiety remains a taboo subject in management
literature. This narrative about the use of reflective writing helps
make sense of of situation where the author was anxious at work. The
narrative demonstrates how the wish to preserve a coherent sense of
professional identity can provoke anxiety, and the pressure to be
in control and competent amplifies the feeling. An exploration
follows on how how reflective writing can be used to make sense of
anxiety at work.

WRITING STORIES TO FACILITATE AN AFRICAN MERGER
Tony Page

Stories become a valuable tool in a business merger that aimed to align a
dispersed organisation of 500 staff spread across Africa. Evidence
shows this organisation shifted its performance and its identity,
while research hints at how story delivers benefits to individuals
and to corporations, and can make a wider contribution to economic
performance and society.

PRAGMATIC WRITING RESPONSES IN COMPLEX CHANGE CONDITIONS
Gary Pass

The case-focus of this article provides several examples of how writing
was used ad a pragmatic response in complex change conditions in a
local authority. It casts light on writing as part of a creative,
dynamic process as well as the way that reflection and inner
dialogue - in the act of writing - develops thinking and supports
action. Outcomes in terms of success and failure are not always
clear. The articles contributes further evidence for the idea that
simple cause and effect in complex conditions is misleading.


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