Robert Barner

The dark tower: Using visual metaphors to facilitate emotional expression during organizational change

Purpose – To provide a descriptive case study showing how the construction of drawings as visual metaphors can help work groups “give voice” to their emotional reactions to organizational change events, and provide groups with a vehicle for interpreting and framing their experience of organizational change. Design/methodology/approach – A seven‐person focus was asked to construct a drawing that would serve as a visual metaphor for conveying the groups reaction to ongoing organizational changes within their company. Following this construction, the group engaged in a self‐interpretation of their metaphor. Findings – The work groups feelings regarding organizational change were encapsulated in visual metaphor of “dark tower”; a metaphor of which revealed that team members shared several strong, negative emotions regarding the organizational change event. A review of how the groups changes in metaphor construction evolved over three successive drawings showed how certain elements of the metaphor came to play a central role in the teams emotional expression of organizational change events. Research limitations/implications – This case study did not attempt to provide a comparative review of metaphor constructions across work groups, nor did it include the use of other research methods, such as structured interviews, to confirm these findings. Practical implications – This study illustrates how the construction of visual metaphors can be used to help researchers gain a more in‐depth understanding of the subjective, felt experience of groups during organizational change events. Originality/value – The groups reflections on how their successive drawings changed over the course of the construction of their metaphor sheds light on how “visual narratives” take form over time.

Managing complex team interventions

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Applying Visual Metaphors to Career Transitions

This article makes use of a case study involving two career professionals to show how visual metaphors can be used as an important part of a constructivist approach to career counseling. It discusses how visual metaphors can serve as an effective methodology for encouraging adults to engage in the self-review of career transitions, discusses comparative approaches to the use of visual metaphors, and explores potential applications of this methodology to career counseling.

The targeted assessment coaching interview: Adapting the assessment process to different coaching requirements

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to provide readers with an understanding of how the assessment protocol for executive coaching can be adapted to more effectively meet the different needs of clients who are seeking developmental, transitional, or remedial coaching.Design/methodology/approach – This article is based on the authors 20 years of experience as both an internal executive coach and external consultant. Organizational examples are provided to illustrate key concepts.Findings – The assessment interview can be customized to meet the unique requirements of transitional, developmental, and remedial coaching.Practical implications – The article provides readers with clear guidelines for adapting the assessment process to meet three different coaching requirements. By following these guidelines, coaches will be able to obtain more detailed and relevant background information on the clients history, organizational setting, goals, and development issues, and in so doing establish a more effecti...

The Role of Mindfulness in Fostering Transformational Learning in Work Settings

The concepts of “mindfulness” and “transformational learning” arise from several domains (i.e., traditional and positive psychology, organizational and social sciences, human and organizational learning and development) and are researched within numerous contexts. Given the need to be sensitive to the complexities of multiple levels for analyses (Hitt, Beamish, Jackson, & Mathieu, 2007), our discussion of individual mindfulness in organizations is centered on the micro level of analysis. This construct of individual mindfulness differs from two constructs at the macro, or organizational, level of analysis: “collective mindfulness” – the practices and processes high-reliability organizations employ to increase organizational reliability – and “mindful organizing” (Langer, 2000; Weick & Putman, 2006; Weick & Roberts, 1993; Weick & Sutcliffe, 2007; Weick, Sutcliffe, & Obstfeld, 2002).