Berrett-Koehler Discussion Guide for
Imaginization
New ways of Seeing, Organizing and Managing
by Gareth Morgan
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Imaginization illustrates how ../../images and metaphors play a critical role in how we think about everyday situations, and how we can think and see in new ways. It tells stories, and presents a variety of exercises that show how imaginization always underpins organization: whether we know it, or not.
Here are some questions that will stimulate an interesting discussion.
- Flip through the sequence of ../../images presented in the first few pages of the book. They summarize the whole message. Take any one of the ideas: for example, the image of the dandelion seeds blowing in the wind. What are the implications of this image for organizing a sales force, or an international consulting company? What does it tell us about the need for a kind of "corporate DNA"?
- Pursuing the same theme, take the sequence of cartoon ../../images of the bureaucrat, Henry Ford, Frederick the Great, and Frederick Taylor. What do they tell us about the way ../../images and creative ideas underpin highly conventional ways of organizing? We imaginize in management, whether we know it or not.
- Think about the implications of imaginization as a core competence for management in turbulent times. As we search for new, flexible modes of organizing, we need to tap our capacities for imaginizing new possibilities. How do the ideas offered in the book help us here?
- The process of imaginization can be used to rethink almost every aspect of management. Consider the following examples and use discussion in the chapters indicated alongside each topic to open new possibilities:
- Planning and strategy ("Strategic Termites" - Chapter 3)
- Organization structure ("On Spider Plants" - Chapter 4)
- New product development ("Rethinking Products and Services" - Chapter 12)
Accept the invitation of these chapters. Open your mind to new ways of thinking about familiar topics.
- Use your group discussion to surface and develop your own capacities for imaginization. For example, take the issue of Teamwork. What are the metaphors that members of your group use to think about this topic? In surfacing and discussing these metaphors, you'll learn much about the extent to which the process of imaginization has an unconscious influence on what we do.
- If you are a management consultant you may wish to wish to focus on the techniques of imaginization presented in the various chapters. To raise some important issues, ask yourself and members of your group: How do you use metaphor as the basis of your work? How can an awareness of the process help you to use it more effectively?
- What are the implications of imaginization for management development? Managers are always imaginizing, whether they know it or not. How can we become more aware of the process, and more skilled in it's use?
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