Theory as Therapy

This chapter argues that a representationalist view of theory in an applied or practical science, such as Organization and Management Theory (OMT), is unrealistic and misleading, since it fails to acknowledge theory’s ineradicable dependence on the dynamics of the lifeworld within which it has its “currency.” It explores some of the difficulties raised by the use of representational theorizing in OMT, and the nature of a more reflective form of theorizing. Reflective theorizing invites practitioners to attend to the grammar of their actions, namely to the rules and meanings that actors draw upon in their participation in social practices. It works to draw their attention to aspects of people’s interactions in organizations not usually noticed; to bring to awareness unconscious habits, confusions, prejudices, and pictures that hold practitioners captive. This view of theory—as perceptually reorienting rather than as cognitively explaining—is illustrated by looking at Karl Weick’s sensemaking theory.