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The Helix of Change: A Visual Metaphor
Author(s) -
Kassinis George,
Panayiotou Alexia
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
european management review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.784
H-Index - 32
eISSN - 1740-4762
pISSN - 1740-4754
DOI - 10.1111/emre.12096
Subject(s) - metaphor , perspective (graphical) , visual language , meaning (existential) , visual rhetoric , linguistics , cognitive psychology , psychology , cognitive science , sociology , computer science , artificial intelligence , philosophy , rhetoric , psychotherapist
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.