ORGANISATIONS & PEOPLE - Index of Articles from the Latest Issue

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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