Publications
Publication details [#3092]
Bürgi, Peter T., Claus D. Jacobs and Johan Roos. 2005. From metaphor to practice: In the crafting of strategy. Literary & Linguistic Computing 14 (1) : 78–94. 17 pp. URL
Publication type
Article in journal
Publication language
English
Keywords
Abstract
This article explores how the link between the hand and the mind might be exploited in the making of strategy. Using Mintzberg’s image of a potter undergoing iterative and recursive learning and knowledge-building processes as a point of departure, the authors develop a three-level theoretical schema, progressing from the physiological to the psychological to the social to trace the consequences of the hand-mind link. To illustrate their theoretical schema, the authors present an illustration case of managers from a large telecommunications firm experimenting with a process for strategy making in which they actively use their hands to construct representations of their organization and its environment. The authors conclude that new and potent forms of strategy making might be attained if the fundamental human experience of using one’s hands is put in the service of all kinds of organizational learning.
(Peter Bürgi, Claus Jacobs and Johan Roos)