The fantasy of inevitability in organizations

Bibliographic Data

ID9890494
AuthorsDavid P Levine (University of Denver, corresponding author)
Year2001
Volume54
Issue10
Pages1251-1265
Publication date2001-10-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueHuman Relations (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0018-7267 • E-ISSN: 1741-282X
PublisherSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/a019194
OpenAlexW2112927306
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited3

This article explores the fantasy that an organization must exist, that the world outside cannot go on in its absence, and that the organization is somehow woven into the fabric of society so as to make it inevitable. Inevitability is part of a grandiose fantasy expressed in the idea that, however many competitors the organization may face, it remains the one true organization, while the others must be judged false claimants. Operation of the fantasy suggests, therefore, the presence of a narcissistic disturbance in the organization. Inevitability is contrasted with indeterminacy, which expresses the organization's capacity to suspend assumptions and preformed knowledge about itself and its world. The article considers indeterminacy an emotional capacity and inevitability the result of the inability of the organization to have access to that capacity. The distinction between inevitability and indeterminacy is seen to have important implications for the possibility and nature of organizational change

Epistemology · Face (sociological concept · Fantasy · Indeterminacy (philosophy · Social science · Sociology · Computer Science · Management and Organizational Studies · Philosophy · Psychology · Psychotherapy Techniques and Applications · Social Psychology

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