Imagination, Self‐Knowledge, and Poise: Jim March’s Lessons for Leadership

Patriotta, Gerardo

doi:10.1111/joms.12536

Cited by 13 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Individuals are rational but sometimes act without calculation in accordance with an ideal. Leadership is a balancing act between these opposing elements according to March (Patriotta, 2019). They have values they believe in, but the theatre of decision-making forces them to play roles that deviate from them.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As March (1994) explains, the self-resulting from leaders' actions is an opportunity to discover their own aspirations and values. This can be called self-knowledge (Patriotta, 2019). This idea is pursued in research on different forms of rationality in managerial decisions in the form of exploratory rationalities based on cases studies (Lambert and Romelaer, 2001).…”

Section: 1mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…March asserts in a 1995 Vancouver conference at the Academy of Management, whose script he published the same year (March, 1995), that innovation can have disastrous consequences. Then for March, "organization are ambivalent toward imagination" (Patriotta, 2019).…”

Section: Exploration In Organizations: Glory and Pitfalls Of Innovationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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James March: a postmodern perspective on organization without management theory

Lambert

2021

JMH

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Purpose In this paper, the authors look back at James March’s main contributions to the evolution of organizations and their decision-making. No other author in management science has been quoted as much. Yet, his view on these issues is often far removed from the dominant academic representations. This paper aims to evaluate the trace left by March for the future. His teachings remain of the utmost importance for both practitioners and academics in charge of modeling the real functioning of the organizations. Design/methodology/approach In this paper, the authors look back at James March’s main contributions to the evolution of organizations and their decision-making. Findings On the basis of an in-depth analysis of his study, the authors discuss the main concepts to which he has dedicated his life as a researcher. Whether it is for innovation and the process of exploration associated with it or for the ambiguity that persists in learning cycles, March always shows us the ambivalence of the concepts. The strength of March’s study is to encourage us to remain cautious in the diagnoses for the development of the companies by not venerating too strongly the notions seen exclusively as virtuous, such as innovation or by not too quickly condemning situations perceived as harmful, such as ambiguity. It is, therefore, subjective and unpredictable, making the idea of a unified theory of management inoperative (Joullié, 2018). March’s way of thinking is deeply postmodern in the sense of Foucault (1961), who saw the world as a representation. Research limitations/implications For this kind of paper based on a James March study’s survey, the main limitation is the variety of research methodology mobilized. Empirical confirmation sometimes is missing or is too short. The study remains essentially speculative as to its influence on future research. Some concepts, such as the concept of effectuation, which is a direct extension of March’s study, deserve to be tested empirically and theoretically in greater depth to assess their robustness. Practical implications All managerial implications are concerned with organizational change. His teachings remain of the utmost importance for both practitioners and academics in charge of modeling the real functioning of the organizations. Social implications Providing a guideline concerning research in the management of organizations. A better understanding of the real functioning of how decisions happen in companies, how they change in the real world. Originality/value The authors show that, contrary to the great paradigms of management sciences (Burrell and Morgan, 1979) developed since Taylor’s founding study, which remains performative in essence, March’s study initiates a viscerally postmodern vision of the organization. The authors believe that his contributions are essential because they are not based on a normative attempt to propose a universal theory but provide a compass that is essential to understanding how the organization study.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: 1mentioning

confidence: 99%

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James March: a postmodern perspective on organization without management theory

Lambert

2021

JMH

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“…A premise of this article is that the roots of inclusive and socially just communities lie in imagination-not only the ability to envision something new, but to care, to understand the perspective of another person or group, to take action, and, guided by principles of EDI, to build communities that support all people. An ecological conception of imagination as soil offers a generative way to move past current "heroic" and entitative kinds of understanding of imagination as the possession of certain charismatic or transformative leaders and to understand it as a shared human capacity (Curtis & Cerni, 2015;Curtis et al, 2017;Patriotta, 2019;Ylimaki, 2006). It highlights how imagination, like soil, can grow in fertility.…”

Section: Concluding Thoughtsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Engaging and Cultivating Imagination in Equity-Focused School Leadership

Judson¹

2022

IJLL

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Research on equity-focused school leadership reveals how it is relational, emotional, and activist. This paper adds imaginative to this set of leadership qualities. First, imagination is conceptualized as soil. Thinking of imagination in this grounded, ecological way can help address misconceptions around what imagination is and does in the context of school leadership. The next section outlines some of the relational, emotional, and activist features of equity-focused school leadership that are rooted in imagination. Imaginative Education is introduced as a theoretical framework that offers a practical set of (cognitive) tools that leaders may employ to cultivate imagination in pursuit of equity in their schools. The paper concludes with recommendations for future research.

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“…In other words, our focus is on the specific tensions and paradoxes inherent in modern organizations and the (overly) rational mythologies that dominate how we think and act within them (Badham, 2017). As numerous commentators on March's views on leadership have observed (Weil in March and Weil, 2005;Padgett, 1992;Patriotta, 2019;Podolny, 2011), the issues leaders face in handling this "material" and finding meaning in the process are aptly regarded by March as existential, human ones. They are not specific to leaders, whether defined as those at the "top of some organization" or those fulfilling a range of such "functions" throughout the organization (Liu, 2010, p. 159).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

James March and the poetry of leadership

Badham

2021

JMH

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Purpose Taking issue with the predominance of reviews of James March’s writings that focus on his technical contributions to organizational studies, this study aims to emphasize the central significance and contemporary relevance of his critical reflections on the meaning of life and work in modern organizations. Design/methodology/approach The paper uses a novel framework illustrated by extensive original quotations for capturing and making more accessible March’s profound contribution to organization studies. His work on organizational behaviour and decision-making is viewed as identifying and grappling with three key paradoxes of modernity: of rationality, performance and meaning. His prescriptions on how to handle and address these paradoxes are explored through a focus on his reflections on the poetry of leadership. Findings Whilst March himself emphasized that not all of his insights can be captured in an article level overview, March, his collaborator Olsen and others who worked with and studied under him have confirmed the accuracy of the review and the value of the enterprise. Practical implications Capturing March’s advocacy of sensible foolishness and playful seriousness in the face of ambiguity, uncertainty and contestation hopefully contribute to enhancing practitioners’ “lightness of being” in coping with and finding meaning in challenging environments. Originality/value Through the range of ideas covered, the framework used and the extensive use of March’s own worlds, the study, hopefully, communicates the depth and richness of March’s humanitarian enterprise and the “playfully serious spirit” that he advocates and exemplifies – in a way that is often omitted from narrower, more technical and somewhat dry treatments of his work.

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Imagination, Self‐Knowledge, and Poise: Jim March’s Lessons for Leadership

Cited by 13 publications

References 22 publications

James March: a postmodern perspective on organization without management theory

James March: a postmodern perspective on organization without management theory

Engaging and Cultivating Imagination in Equity-Focused School Leadership

James March and the poetry of leadership

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