Accounting for organizational history is essential to any chance process. We argue, however, that the intentional revision of history also can be important. We treat history as malleable, because events and actions from the past are susceptible to reinterpretation as organizations try to align with the way they see themselves in the present and want to see themselves in the future. Because change is a prospective, future-oriented process, whereas sensemaking is a retrospective, past-oriented process, making sense of the future requires an ability to envision the future as having already occured, i.e. to think in the future perfect tense. We offer an initial conceptual exploration of organizational change from a revisonist history perspective that turns on future perfect thinking, a view that enlarges our conceptualization of the ways in which history affects organizational adaptation and change.

Accounting for organizational history is essential to any change process. We argue, however, that the intentional revision of that history also can be important. We treat history as malleable, because events and actions from the past are susceptible to reinterpretation as organizations try to align with the way they see themselves in the present and want to see themselves in the future. Because change is a prospective, future‐oriented process, whereas sensemaking is a retrospective, past‐oriented process, making sense of the future requires an ability to envision the future as having already occurred, i.e. to think in the future perfect tense. We offer an initial conceptual exploration of organizational change from a revisionist history perspective that turns on future perfect thinking, a view that enlarges our conceptualization of the ways in which history affects organizational adaptation and change.

Tenere conto della storia dell’organizzazione è essenziale per qualsiasi processo di cambiamento. Sosteniamo, tuttavia, che anche la revisione intenzionale di quella storia può essere importante. Trattiamo la storia come malleabile, perché gli eventi e le azioni del passato sono suscettibili di reinterpretazione mentre le organizzazioni cercano di allinearsi al modo in cui si vedono nel presente e vogliono vedersi nel futuro. Poiché il cambiamento è un processo prospettico, orientato al futuro, mentre la creazione di senso è un processo retrospettivo, orientato al passato, dare un senso al futuro richiede la capacità di immaginare il futuro come se fosse già accaduto, cioè di pensare al futuro perfetto. Offriamo un’esplorazione concettuale iniziale del cambiamento organizzativo da una prospettiva storica revisionista che si basa sul pensiero del futuro perfetto, una visione che amplia la nostra concettualizzazione dei modi in cui la storia influenza l’adattamento e il cambiamento organizzativo.

Revising the past (while thinking in the future perfect tense) / Gioia, D.; Corley, K.; Fabbri, T.. - In: JOURNAL OF ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE MANAGEMENT. - ISSN 0953-4814. - STAMPA. - 15:6(2002), pp. 622-634. [10.1108/09534810210449532]

Revising the past (while thinking in the future perfect tense)

Fabbri T.
2002

Abstract

Accounting for organizational history is essential to any change process. We argue, however, that the intentional revision of that history also can be important. We treat history as malleable, because events and actions from the past are susceptible to reinterpretation as organizations try to align with the way they see themselves in the present and want to see themselves in the future. Because change is a prospective, future‐oriented process, whereas sensemaking is a retrospective, past‐oriented process, making sense of the future requires an ability to envision the future as having already occurred, i.e. to think in the future perfect tense. We offer an initial conceptual exploration of organizational change from a revisionist history perspective that turns on future perfect thinking, a view that enlarges our conceptualization of the ways in which history affects organizational adaptation and change.
2002
15
6
622
634
Revising the past (while thinking in the future perfect tense) / Gioia, D.; Corley, K.; Fabbri, T.. - In: JOURNAL OF ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE MANAGEMENT. - ISSN 0953-4814. - STAMPA. - 15:6(2002), pp. 622-634. [10.1108/09534810210449532]
Gioia, D.; Corley, K.; Fabbri, T.
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11380/1314786
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