Finding one's voice: the poetry of reflective practice

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to reveal links between managers developing their reflective practice and the emergence of poetic expression in their writing.

Design/methodology/approach

The author runs the Master's year of a university program that helps business leaders', managers, professionals and consultants develop their abilities for leading and managing major change projects using action research. She reflects back over the 12 years of the program and recognizes a link between the development of reflective practice and the emergence of poetry and, increasingly, poetic expression.

Findings

At the same time as participants' actions are involving them in dynamically complex issues, working beyond events and into the forces that shape change, it is possible to reflect on what they are learning and how they might express it. As they slow down their thinking, become more reflective and inquire into the assumptions on which their actions are based, and then attempt to articulate this, they begin to experience the re‐sounding of their own voices. For many, poetry emerges – in the margins – at the edge of what can be said in words.

Practical implications

A major implication for universities and researchers is the realization that a shift from the non‐participating “researcher” to the participating “I” is much more than grammatical. Each constitutes a different socially constructed world, uses a different language and is borne on a different voice.

Originality/value

There is everyday, practical value in realizing that reflective practice and poetic expression are linked, and that expressing our “selves” in texts that are vital breathes life into our words and our actions in the world.

Citation

Joy Hiley, T. (2006), "Finding one's voice: the poetry of reflective practice", Management Decision, Vol. 44 No. 4, pp. 561-574. https://doi.org/10.1108/00251740610663081