The Helix of Change: A Visual Metaphor

Although discourse encompasses verbal as well as visual representations, the visual mode of meaning construction remains largely unaddressed in discussions of organizational change, despite recent calls for a ‘visual turn’ in organization studies. To this end, our study adds a visual meaning‐making perspective to the literature on organizational change through an empirical, longitudinal study of a Boston‐based start‐up that radically altered the music industry. By employing a bottom‐up view of organizing, we document change as it happens ‘on the ground’ and propose a new visual metaphor for understanding change – a helix . This visual metaphor adds a helpful image to the current literature of change as process, which is often bound by static, noun‐oriented language. It also has the potential to effectively depict the stability‐change paradox in a way that moves us beyond either/or ways of thinking, talking and planning.