Grace, magic and miracles: A “chaotic logic” of organizational transformation

Abstract

Focuses on integrating the theory and practice of organizational transformation through the metaphors of chaos theory and self‐organization. Case study data were collected through in‐depth interviews of three practitioner/theorists ‐ Peter Senge, William Torbert and Ellen Wingard ‐ all of whom have formulated theories of organizational change which they use as practitioners for generating transformations in organizations. The interviews suggest that all three of them utilize the logic of their (very different) theories to rationally set up the conditions for organizational change, but that the transformations they describe were sparked not through rational efforts but, in their words, through “grace”, “magic”, and “a miracle”. The new sciences of chaos and self‐organization provide a number of useful metaphors that can help us understand these non‐linear events. Describes the case studies in some depth and then identifies commonalities across the interventions in terms of a three‐phase model of dynamic order, thresholds at the edge of logic, and the self‐organized emergence of new order. Uses metaphors from new science to explain this process, aiming to identify a “chaotic logic” that links rational theory and intuitive practice in transformations of groups and organizations.

Citation

Lichtenstein, B.M. (1997), "Grace, magic and miracles: A “chaotic logic” of organizational transformation", Journal of Organizational Change Management, Vol. 10 No. 5, pp. 393-411. https://doi.org/10.1108/09534819710177495