Writing the organisational crisis: embodied leadership engaged through the lens of a playscript

ABSTRACT

In a sea of endless stories of corporate ethical scandals, many of which are attributed to ‘failed leadership', this article examines how creative writing research is being used as a way of inspiring – or suggesting – new forms of leadership behaviour. In the processual nature of being in our lives, if experience is valued as primary to consciousness as a way of active belonging, then it will be argued that creative writing – here, scriptwriting specifically – is a powerful medium to examine organisational experiences. This research practice occurs through the lens of affect in embodied responses to such experience, as distinct from the singular, scientific mode of cognitive analysis that can cause us to habitually jump too quickly to conclusions about our experiences. By employing the affective methodology of creative practice research, which in this case forms the basis for a PhD currently in candidature, this article speculates how creative writing might disrupt habitual thinking through the elevation of emergent data from our physical senses. Creative writing can, we argue, provide a balance for science to work with art and craft, and in doing so encourage new thinking in the fields of organisational behaviour, relational leadership and creative practice research.

KEYWORDS:

• Creative writing research
• organisational leadership
• scriptwriting
• playscript
• process philosophy
• PhD
• management learning

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Professor Craig Batty is Head of Creative Writing at the University of Technology Sydney. He is the author, co-author and editor of books including Writing for the Screen: Creative and Critical Approaches (2nd ed.) (2019), Screen Production Research: Creative Practice as a Mode of Enquiry (2018) and Screenwriters and Screenwriting: Putting Practice into Context (2014). Craig is also a screenwriter and script consultant, with experiences in short film, feature film, television and online drama.

Christopher Michael Conroy is a current PhD candidate at the University of Technology Sydney. He is the author of a play The Myth of Themanus – 21st Century Leadership in Action (2015). Following 25 years in public sector management practice across a variety of industry environments, he has pursued academic research presenting ‘Leadership’ papers at organisational leadership-related conferences in Italy (EGOS 2016) and the UK (ISLC 2018). Since 2016, Chris has been teaching a range of university undergraduate and postgraduate management subjects with a view to fostering business student awareness regarding the nascent value of arts for business.