Atkinson, David ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2179-1652 (2020) Working Paper: Dancing the VUCA. Working Paper. Researchgate. (Unpublished)

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Abstract

This working paper constitutes an updated form of the 2008 article Dancing "the management": on social presence, rhythm and finding common purpose. It forms part of the development of a book manuscript An Inspector Calls. The paper explores the concept of an organizational dance by considering the notions of presence and rhythm in the context of a VUCA world. To do so, the paper presents a definition for social presence, explicating an individual's ability to perceive a socially constructed reality, against which collective movement-aligned within a concept of organizational rhythm-permits a form of dance to emerge. This dance sets up a form of social constructionism in which new forms of knowledge might arise through creative play. The paper presents the argument that the metaphor of dance can usefully provide new insight into thinking about organisational leadership in a VUCA context, by providing an intellectual basis for writing about organizational dance. As a precursor to understanding a system's purpose, the paper concludes that the question is not, empirically, what organisational dances are best practices in a VUCA world, but, to better support collective practice, 'how do we make the organization dance?' The paper offers, above all, a motivation for creative thought and judgement, through an aesthetic sensibility. It is a precursor to the idea that humanity's collective practice might be better organised to make society dance.

Item Type:	Monograph (Working Paper)
Status:	Unpublished
DOI:	doi10.13140/RG.2.2.25121.43369
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor > HD28 Management. Industrial Management
School/Department:	York Business School
URI:	https://ray.yorksj.ac.uk/id/eprint/6168

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