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Douglas Griffin: the Emergence of Leadership: Linking Self-Organization and Ethics - Book Review

Organization Studies, Oct, 2003 by Janet Borgerson

2002, London and New York: Routledge

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Theories of materiality, that is, attempts to understand the co-creation of subject and object, or, for that matter, organism and environment, constitute crucial points of departure, whether in anthropology (e.g. Miller 1987), sociology (e.g. Latour 1993), biology (e.g. Lewontin 2000), or philosophy (e.g. Butler 1999/1987; Hegel 1931/1807; Oliver 1998; Zizek 1993). As part of the Complexity and Emergence in Organizations series (see also Frenken 2002), Griffin's book carries forward the project of gleaning insights from natural sciences research, such as quantum mechanics, in which the observer is recognized to be observing and participating in the 'system' at the same time (see also Plotnitsky 1994). In addition, the philosopher George Herbert Mead's focus on an emergent self, put into communication with related complexity theory and models of 'participatory self-organization', forms the basis of an investigation into the ontological and epistemological assumptions that plague notions of leadership. Overall, the work could benefit from greater clarity, conceptual coherence and a clear statement of implications. The book's contribution lies, nevertheless, in the complexity of its broad theoretical underpinnings and the accompanying potential to provoke interrogation of taken-for-granted ideas.

Picking up on the theme from an earlier volume in the series (Stacey et al. 2000), Griffin begins with the argument that Immanuel Kant introduced 'both ... and' thinking into scientific projects of observing and hypothesizing, providing a taken-for-granted elimination of paradox in ethics, and, more specifically business ethics. This habitual conceptual mode of working through problems and establishing solutions--Griffin calls it systemic self-organization--reduces complexity and leads to a focus upon an autonomy-based view of actions. Thus, the very Kantian contribution that eased the tension between a human being's status as enmeshed in nature's laws--and hence a certain determinism--and the necessary rational autonomy that constituted human freedom to choose, has engaged a framing of dilemmas, considerations, and responses that often misses the point. 'Both ... and' thinking obscures the kinds of descriptions of concerns and potential actions that might capture a broader, and apparently more accurate, picture of ethical, organizational and other issues. Such an alternative perspective, here termed participative self-organization, would allow paradoxical coexistence, or 'at the same time' thinking. Participative self-organization 'posits a process of interactive participation between self-conscious embodied subjects who are observers and participants, subjects and objects at the same time' says Griffin (p. 14). Through this interactive participation 'variations arise based on the diversity of those interacting' (p. 18). In maintaining openness to a future that evolves with human action, the limitations and delusions of 'both ... and' thinking fade.

Griffin turns to pragmatism within a Hegelian, or phenomenological, tradition, emphasizing Mead's thought about developing his perspective. Mead concerned himself with the complex interactions, relations and emergences of individual subjects, or selves, including as essential all that formed the context for these selves: 'Thus, the first condition of consciousness is life, a process ... which extends beyond what goes on in the organism out into the surrounding world and defines so much of the world as is found within the sweep of these activities as the environment of the individual' (Mead 1932: 69). Mead is not a common figure upon which to draw, although others have argued for the potential organizational contributions of concepts emerging from the legacies of Hegelian concerns (e.g. Brewis and Linstead 2001; Hancock and Tyler 2001). Continuous and emerging co-creation of subjects and objects, Self and not-Self, and the relationships between these provide ongoing recognition of change and development. In such a dynamic view, organization emerges over time, rather than being hypothesized from the outset in a way that would limit or frame emergence.

From an ethical theory perspective, Griffin's emphasis upon emergence presents a potential shift in the way ethics, and business ethics, are often taught, which can only be a good thing. Rather than focusing upon universal principles, utilitarian considerations, aspects of autonomous choice, or virtuous character, participative self-organization foregrounds the primacy of relation and interaction--an important condition for responsibility. Responsibility emerges in this space of relation and interaction as an activity, a response to meeting and engaging with other selves (for further discussion see Borgerson 2001; Levinas 1985; May 1992). Moreover, intention arises in actions in the 'living present', emphasizing the futility of hypothesizing outcomes in advance of acting. Whereas a Kantian perspective typically locates the ethical intention apart from or prior to action, promoting a sense that the self-reflective, rational subject stands outside the process/event itself, a participative self-organization perspective locates the subject--itself emergent--within the action.

Douglas Griffin: the Emergence of Leadership: Linking Self-Organization and Ethics - Book Review

Organization Studies, Oct, 2003 by Janet Borgerson

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