The Poetic Organization

[First paragraph] Alexandra Pitsis in her The Poetic Organization begins with refreshing frankness. The very first page tells us that the ‘poetic’ is something difficult to gauge; it is a paradox that refers to some indefinable process. It is a term which is messy and slips away—without explanation. It offers only a tenuous and obscured path because of its protean nature. It cannot be ‘named, identified and spoken about in a direct sense’. By about page xii, one can tangibly sense a collection of Lex Donaldson fans quietly putting the book down. But Pitsis continues in her pro-Humanities vein where poetry and the poetic are thought to offer other insights into a world not remotely shared with utilitarian Lexus functionalists. This world of ‘ficto-analysis’ offers quiet power over understanding organizational life because of its sense of creation and transformation. Humans, argues Pitsis, share this creative ability and participate within it, consciously or not, especially within organizational life.