Dear Garrick and fellow AACORNers,

I think there is a major issue in the notion that we are able, in some way, to carry over a definition of "art" into management and organization without actually understanding the definition itself. I completed my PhD in this subject just last November. I would agree with you that art cannot be soley about beauty and goodness. For example, you site Jean Genet. I might add, from a commercial perspective, the example of Bill Gates. While there might be an argument that a succesful entreprenuer such as BG might be said (by some) to have practiced a certain art of management in the development of Microsoft, is there in any sense - when you look at the anti-trust action taken against it in the USA and Europe - in which the organization can be representable by aspects of beauty and goodness? I think not. My own take on the usefulness of the category of beauty, in a transferability to organisational settings, is that it has limited use unless it is taken together with the notion of "sublime" - which I find to be a far more open and powerful category. Within the sublime, the absent other - often perceived by the artist alone - remains to be explored within the artist's work. I believe beauty only matters in as much as it is there to initiate an engagement of a disinterested contemplation of the artist's work, as a form of facilitating the presence of the audience in the world of the artist. 

I would welcome your take on the sublime.

David Atkinson


-----Original Message-----
From: Aesthetics, Creativity, and Organisations Research Network [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Garrick Jones
Sent: 01 February 2007 09:35
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: leader as artist literature

Dear David,

I read with interest your response on the "art of leadership" which threw up a number of questions for me.  The definition of "Art" is used in the broadest of categories and while welcome, leaves me pondering the differences between the idea of "creativity" and the idea of "art" per se.  Claire Bishop used this distinction very usefully in her article in Frieze "The Social Turn: Collaboration and its discontents", n0 96, February 2006. While I completely agree that the Artist is in the world in a way that is somehow different, and adopts a vantage point, or exists in relationship to the world in a particular way, I have to query whether its only about beauty and goodness.  Adorno and Benjamin have written extensively on the gaze, or the eye of the artist, and of the impact of an alternative perspective. While I agree that creativity exists at the core of what  
it means to be human - is this "art" and is this "art leadership"?   
If we extend the idea of artists beyond that of sculptors and painters (which as a musician and composer I welcome), and into the realm of literature and playwriting  how then might you classify the "art leadership" of perhaps, say, Jean Genet, who unquestionably "led" as an artist in the 1950's and 1960's, but who's metier was not about leaving beauty and goodness in the people it touched.

best wishes

Garrick Jones




On 28 Aug 2006, at 20:22, DAVID Cowan wrote:

> Dear Katja, Stefan, Steve, Daved, Claus, and all other artful friends,
>
> My own take on the "art of leadership" is fairly indigenous. From this 
> perspective, artistic leadership is more a "way of being in the world"
> than it is a particular artistic expression. It manifests physically, 
> mentally, emotionally, and/or spiritually in accordance with relevant 
> contexts. This compares to the less indigenous notion of locating art 
> more specifically, for example, within frames, on stages, or in 
> particular kinds of writing.
> Indigenously, artful leadership is a way of walking upon the earth 
> that leaves beauty and goodness in the people it touches. [If 
> interested, I explain more about this in the article that I mentioned 
> in a previous message, "Artistic Undertones of Humanistic Leadership 
> Education" (Journal of Management Education, out this
> Fall) -- which will also have many references. In it, I borrow insight 
> from Sandelands and Buckner's "art at work characteristics."] For your 
> pleasure, I share a quote from Henri cited in Sandelands and Buckner:
> "Art, when really understood, is the province of every human being. . 
> . . When the artist is alive in people, whatever their kind of work 
> may be, they become inventitve, searching, daring, self-expressing 
> creatures. . . .
> They do not have to be painters or sculptors to be artists. They can 
> work in any medium."
>
> Mindfully, David
>
>>>> stefan meisiek <[log in to unmask]>  >>>
> Dear Katja and all,
>
> We have been tossing ideas around for a think piece on the "fine art 
> of leadership" for a while. We asked ourselves what it would mean if a 
> leader was thought to apply fine art thinking, and if there are 
> leaders already whom could be said to do that. The art notion as in 
> "the art of..." usually has a strong crafts connotation, a list of rules 
> and principles like in Fayol's work, or like Sun-Tsu's writing on war 
> (actually the Chinese title suggests only principles and no art of...).
> If we leave the craft aside for a minute, what could the conceptual 
> art part tell us about leadership? What's the leadership equivalent of 
> Duchamp's toilet? As a fine artist, the leader becomes more thinker 
> and less 'doer' (not to mention dour). With this, it's not enough for 
> a leader to bracket a problem-she has to represent it in a catchy, 
> upending, and reflective way.
>
>
>
> Steve, Daved & Stefan
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Aesthetics, Creativity, and Organisations Research Network 
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Claus Springborg
> Sent: segunda-feira, 28 de Agosto de 2006 13:35
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: leader as artist literature
>
>
>
> Dear Katja
>
>
>
> Mythology, leaders/managers and artists. This is not directly 
> references to literature that uses an artist metaphor to describe 
> leadership, but I personaly find it a very interesting indirect link 
> between artists and leaders. Maybe you can use it?
>
>
>
> The mythology of the journey of the hero is sometimes used to describe 
> both the journey of the leader/manager and the journey of the artist.
>
>
>
>
>
> In Synchronicity - the inner path of leadership by Jaworski (p. 
> 18-119),
> leadership (and Joseph Jaworskis own journey) is compared to "the 
> journey of the hero" as it's described in Joseph Campbells The hero 
> with a thousand faces.
>
>
>
> In Dialogue - the art of thinking together by William Isaacs (p.
> 286-87), there are also references to Joseph Campbells journey of the 
> hero. He writes about the difficulties of returning with new insight 
> to the "ordinary" world.
>
>
>
> In Artful Creation by Lotte Darsø there is a chapter on the work of  
> Miha
> Pogacnik (p.93-98). Here the journey of the hero is mentioned as the
> journey of a leader. I think the part called the art of listening,
> describes the essential link between hero, artist and leader.  
> Namely the
> ability to clear a mental space of ones own thoughts and ideas and
> through that empty space get the ability to receive - to listen. In
> Dialogue a similar idea is called suspention - a term that  
> comativity by David Bohm there is a chapter called On the
> relationship of art and science. Here art is linked to the ability to
> perceive, and in that way it becomes essential to science - the more
> subtle the theories of the world, the greater the need for subtle
> perception to keep the theories in tune with what's actually going on.
>
> The chapter is interesting if one think of leadership as the  
> activity of
> developing theories of how best to manage a business. If the leader  
> can
> learn to "listen" like the artist, then his ability to perceive the
> consequences of his actions is expanded - he can get more subtle
> feedback than before, and thus develop more in tuned theories.
>
>
>
> I have also seen the journey of the hero used in books on how to  
> develop
> creativity in artists. I don't remember any titles though. Maybe The
> artist way by Julia Cameron could have a useful reference or two.  
> Maybe
> another Aacorner can help us out here?
>
>
>
> I also find it interesting to compare the journey of the hero with the
> process of double loop learning (Argyris (1992): On organizational
> learing). I haven't seen this anywhere - but if anyone have, I'd  
> love to
> get a hint.
>
>
>
> Hope this is useful.
>
>
>
>
>
> Cheers Claus Springborg
>
>
>
> p.s. I have made a first draft in order to map the literature on Arts
> and Business into some categories. I will send it to the Aacorn net
> shortly in order to get feedback. That might be helpful to you as  
> well.
>
> ----- Original Message -----
>
> From: Katja Lindqvist <mailto:[log in to unmask]>
>
> To: [log in to unmask]
>
> Sent: Monday, August 28, 2006 12:16 PM
>
> Subject: leader as artist literature
>
>
>
> Dear Acorners,
>
>
>
> does anyone have any suggestions for literature on the myth of
> leaders/managers as artists?
>
>
>
> I'm going into this question in writing, and mostly have literature on
> the aesthetics of organisation and managment, but don't really have  
> the
> full picture of the frequency of this metaphor in business research  
> and
> literature.
>
>
>
> I'd be great to hear from the ACORN network what you've come across
>
>
>
> Best,
>
> Katja
>
>
>
> Katja Lindqvist
>
> Fil. dr, Företagsekonomiska institutionen, Stockholms universitet
>
> PhD, Stockholm University School of Business
>
> Visiting scholar at Dipartimento di Scienze Aziendali, University of
> Bologna
>
> [log in to unmask]



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