What a silence suddenly....It looks as if Aacorn had been turned off since
these promissing exchanges on finance and art....Paul, David, Daved, Jürgen,
Matt, Steve Michael, and others aacorners, where are you ? I miss your words
I hope "I" didn't reduced the list to mute
;-))
philippe
----- Original Message -----
From: <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Cc: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, October 28, 2008 6:29 PM
Subject: Re: actualisation
Dear Philippe;
this is most interesting. Many great insights to which I add some small
ones.
One thing that I try to do and am doing it now with a group of Executive
MBA people is to get them to work on conceptualising aspects of the verbal
world in terms of group presentations that have to have a strong visual or
poetic element to get these ideas over.
Sometimes I can challenge them by asking dumb questions like "Bottom Line?
where is the bottom?... What is it the bottom of?.... I am not an accountant
so I don't see what is the "top" either... "and so on until I ask again in
rather a dumb way "Well can you draw it?" Or "It sounds as though balance is
important in that, so can you balance that in another way, maybe is there a
poem in that?"
Sometimes we can take a concept like "Best practice" or "Benchmark" and ask
them to draw these concepts so that they can attempt to limit the range of
the possible in a visual way and realise that there can be no "Best" if you
cannot visualise infinity.
I always allow a choice of how they present. Usually some groups try to do
very conventional presentations with run of the mill charts, diagrams,
tables etc... but then some of the other groups who have been more
adventurous will shout out "Draw it!!" or "If you can't see it, you can't
say it!"
I have an advantage in that as I am old and wear a pinstripe business suit
for these sessions they figure that I cannot possibly be as dumb as I sound
but as I am clearly an old Professor and must know something, they may as
well go along with it and humour me.
Afterwards they often say somethng like "Well, that was very different! I
see things in a different way!"
Best regards
David
----- Start Original Message -----
Sent: Tue, 28 Oct 2008 11:00:31 +0100
From: philippe nmairesse <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: actualisation
>
> Hi Matt, nice to talk "to" you again (remember Berlin?) Hi Jürgen, what
a fertile input you made ! Thanks. I second Matt's post totally, and wish
to focus on his line "advance alternative modes of engagement as scholars
and practitioners, even as we remain sensitive to the potential for our
efforts to become instrumentalized in the process". I wish to rapidly
describe two cases we recently dealt with here, together with Patrick
Mathieu : 1) we produced an long term analysis for a big
international assert mangement and private bank. We demonstrated that
both the stakeholders, the top managers and the clients shared a common
vision and "ambition" about a step-by-step progression towards learning
how to better spend money, in a respopnsible and unselfish way. We also
showed (to the extend that the company is now examining how to implement
practical processes and methods), how this ambition is realised through a
very specific management method, similar to some we observed within
artistic cooperations. We discovered how their most complex financial
hedge fund product was in fact based on a specific collaborating
management process, that could appear paradoxical but which in fact
attract people and money on a highly "creative community building" untold
stake.We also discovered, and shared with them, how the process of
"better spending out money" is linked to the feeling of living under a
"Big Above All" , and to the wish of asymptotically stepping upward to an
unreachable level of life, represented (and valuated!) through financial
assets and their management. We had to detect and describe where lies
this "Big Above" (in that case mainly represented by the Name... sounds
familiar??), and how it manifests to stakeholders, managers, clients
and employees ( it also showed the accuracy of the contemporary question
: how to deal with an absence of such a feeling, and it showed how this
apparent absence may often be a hidden presence under such garments as
financial materialistic and immoral interests). 2) On another
opportunity, working for a big international money transfer company, we
showed the actual outcome and unconscious need of the company and their
clients was linked to enabling a double-cultural belonging feeling, and
that their should develop by creating a renewed conception of the
symbolic debt, leading to a renewed conception of money sending as
lending (sharing the debt rather than paying it back, as there is now
noone to receive the payment and credit you for it), leading to a renewed
conception of credit considered as a "potlatch" (mutual gifting process),
thus enabling re-setting the landscape of responsible development and
financing developpeing cutures... and a promising business opportunity
for the company. In both cases, the question of high finance processes
was not analysed through financial, mathematical, or game / risk
analysis tools, which are only smoke produced by the fire. We focused on
people and their words, in order to discover the deep underlying
socio-psychological drives, and make the connection between financial
tools / products / outcomes and individual / society concerns. This
revealed how the creation (of products, of feelings, of cultural
settings) is entangled with financial processes (who would doubt that ?).
And most interesting, we showed how we, not at all financial experts nor
big money-makers, were able to deepen the understandings of main actors
in the field. Our analysis and advices were not only listened to, but
practically followed by them, thus installing among the companies and
people a more humane relationnal model : a meaning. Though the results we
got were highly metaphysical in a way, we didn't tried to introduce
thoses finance people directly into philosopical or metaphysical issues
- even if we had succeeded and had been listened to, the link with action
would have been left to the managers' will and ability to translate
philosophy into acts... what even Plato failed.We neither did use arty
tools or forms. We instead started from the strong belief that a form is
only culturally active when it embodies a relation, and that financial
products (as any good or service) is such a form.As an artist I feel
involved into the world, its understanding and its shaping, more directly
than I ever felt in any show I was part of.... and it raises really hot
questions on aesthetics and economy, forms and meaning, producing and
showing. I drop off here, to let you reacting and taking my poor inputs
a bit further Philippe ----- Original Message -----
From: Matt StatlerTo: [log in to unmask]: Monday, October 27,
2008 4:26 PMSubject: Re: actualisation
Hey all-
I wanted to pick up this thread and respond to Jurgen's initial
question: I believe the crisis provides a huge opportunity to the
extent that it shows the limits of very specific and very pervasive
metaphysical and epistemological assumptions that reduce the
complexity of organizational (and economic) life, zero out the
richness of lived experience in production function equations, and
ultimately (it must be said) engender only MORE quantity rather than
BETTER quality. To the extent that this distinction itself begs for
aesthetic critique, I think it's a great time for AACORNs to
advance alternative modes of engagement as scholars and
practitioners, even as we remain sensitive to the potential for our
efforts to become instrumentalized in the process.
On that note, a friend and I recently tried to trace out one small
angle of this whole mess in an article:
http://www.morexpertise.com/view/100
Aesthetics and the Topology of Risk, Matt Statler and Robert
Richardson
Recent strategic management research suggests that organizations
operating in volatile environments can become more strategically
prepared to deal with unexpected change by cultivating practical
wisdom among their leaders and decision-makers (Statler & Roos, 2007,
Statler, Roos & Victor, 2006, Statler & Roos, 2006). In this paper,
we argue that arts-based, 'aesthetic' process techniques can be
used to help enterprise risk managers become more strategically
prepared to deal with unexpected changes of all kinds. We support
this argument by 1) reviewing the recent organizational research that
clarifies the relevance of arts and aesthetics for organizations; 2)
introducing a distinction between the algebraic calculation of
probabilities and the topological imagination of potentialities; and
3) reflecting on how aesthetic methods might be used to enhance risk
identification and assessment practices, with particular reference to
the collapse of global credit markets in 2007 and 2008. Our goal is
to show that the insights generated through aesthetic approaches to
risk-oriented decision-making are not just generically different from
more traditional approaches, but supportive of practically-wise
responses to emergent change.
At another level of analysis, I can simply testify that here in
Manhattan the aesthetics of the financial market collapse are
palpable all around.
Looking forward to hearing more perspectives on this topic!
-Matt
Matt Statler, Ph.D.
Associate Director
International Center for Enterprise Preparedness (InterCEP)
New York University
113 University Place, 9th Floor
New York, NY 10003 USA
T +1.212.992.9931
F +1.212.995.4614
[log in to unmask]
www.nyu.edu/intercep
-----Original Message-----
From: Aesthetics, Creativity, and Organisations Research Network
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Stephen Carroll
Sent: Monday, October 27, 2008 10:43 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: actualisation
Just last night I was having dinner with a finance professsor who was
deploring the inability of the finacial community to more effectively
communicate realities of the world of finance. I now have a basis for
a dialogue which honestly did not occur to me before.
Stephen (Steve) Carroll
Maryland Business School
301/405-2239
[log in to unmask]
-----"Aesthetics, Creativity, and Organisations Research Network"
<[log in to unmask]> wrote: -----
To: [log in to unmask]
From: Daved Barry <[log in to unmask]>
Sent by: "Aesthetics, Creativity, and Organisations Research Network"
<[log in to unmask]>
Date: 10/27/2008 08:47AM
Subject: Re: actualisation
This is very timely! I've recently been working with one of our
finance
professors around how to make financial models more humane and less
reductionist. She's long been wanting to shift these models (eg. real
options models, capital asset pricing, net present value, etc)--away
from
wealth maximization and moving towards maximizing the utility of
wealth
(read, enjoying what you have more). It's been tough going so far,
but we
continue to have discussions around it. Part of the discussions are
around
how such models can have richer inputs (e.g. using pictures to tease
out
what's important to numerically model), while others are around how
to make
more interesting numerical representations (ones that are more open).
D
-----Original Message-----
From: Aesthetics, Creativity, and Organisations Research Network
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Elmes, Michael B.
Sent: Monday, October 27, 2008 11:41 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: actualisation
Interesting question, Jürgen. Before this crisis occurred and the
walls came
tumbling down, there were many in the financial services community
(like
hedge fund managers and investment bankers) who argued that the tools
of
financial engineering were indeed VERY artful if you were looking for
creative ways to make lots of money. Obviously, the pendulum is
starting to
swing the other way and, in the US at least, we are entering a new
era of
regulation (thankfully). I think that the question of how art and
aesthetics
might play out in this economy is an interesting one; a colleague who
runs
projects for banks and investment firms on Wall Street just asked me
if I
knew of any faculty who used models of physics to study risk because
a
sponsor saw possibilities for it...so people in the investment
community are
looking for new and creative models (although on Wall St at least,
models
that will make significant returns).
I would love to see how art and aesthetics in business and
organization
might help people (especially Americans) learn to do and enjoy more
with
much less - fewer possessions but perhaps more beautiful ones!
Cheers,
Michael
________________________________________
From: Aesthetics, Creativity, and Organisations Research Network
[[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Jürgen Bergmann
[[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Monday, October 27, 2008 5:09 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: actualisation
Dear All,
the actual financial crisis will affect or affects already the global
economie.
What I'm interested in is to know if you perceive this crisis as a
chance
for art/aesthetics in business/organisation/management?
If yes, how would you argument?
And if those arguments are valuable, would it not be AACORNs duty to
adress
those arguments to influential and important individuals,
institutions and
organisations?
I'm curious to see what comes up!
Al the best
Jürgen
P.S.: There is always the feedback of new members of AACORN that
there is no
exhaustive list allowing to see the biographies and profils of all
the
members. Please use the possiblities of
www.aacorn.wikispaces.com<http://www.aacorn.wikispaces.com> to set
links to
existing bios and profils (for example already published in the
homepage of
AACORN) or create a short page within wikispaces so that newcomers
are able
to informe them-selfs who is who!!!
P.SS.: I had some questions of non-AACORNers if we have to do with
the ACORN
organisation in the US! How to deal with that?
----- End Original Message -----
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