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Imaginization: New Mindsets for Seeing, Organizing, and Managing
"Imaginization is typical of Gareth Morgan′s work--stimulating, thought-provoking, original, and well-written."
--Anne Golden, President, United Way of Greater Toronto
"The book is exciting. It opens up ways of developing both organization and management. It inspires ideas of excellence and achievement and gives hope for this age. You can probably open this book anywhere and find something of value."
--BUSINESS AGE
"Morgan has written an amazing book on imaginative ways of organizing and managing organizations. . . . a book about a new management theory that can self-organize, evolve, twist, turn, and perhaps change at the speed of light. The work provides a way of helping managers understand and develop their creative potential. It offers a means of finding innovative solutions to difficult problems. Anyone interested in modern-day organizations and personal empowerment should read this book....Belongs on the bookshelf of every manager seeking creative ways to transform one′s organization and oneself."
--JOURNAL OF ACADEMIC LIBRARIANSHIP
"The stories provide powerful examples of how the use of metaphors can help people in an organization understand their complex feelings and how discussion of the concepts contained in metaphors can help develop a shared sense of vision for the future. . . . Imaginization is definitely worth reading. The author strikes a responsive cord in calling for new organizational approaches to deal with a dynamic future, and he establishes credibility through numerous examples that document the use of his consulting techniques. . . . One might argue that the book lacks structure and focus. This is true if one is committed to the traditional, hierarchical way of presenting ideas. Visionaries are freed from such constraints as they allow their creativity to flow--and Gareth Morgan is indeed a visionary."
--SRA JOURNAL
"Imaginization is filled with thought-provoking metaphors (e.g., holograms for organizational design, termites for strategic planning, spider plants for flexibility and decentralization), primitive, but compelling illustrations and stimulating case studies--many of which are products of Morgan′s action-learning research on imaginization. This highly readable book rests on a solid underpinning of scholarly research, creative introspection, and originality. This is anything but pop-biz, but it sure could fool you at first glance."
--STERN′S HR MANAGEMENT REVIEW
"A valuable, interesting, and practical addition to the book collection. . . .If you are looking for an amusing and lighthearted trip through Morgan′s Metaphoric Management Manual then this is certainly worth a look. Moreover, and I think this is the real value of Morgan′s book, he doesn′t advocate a simple prescriptive solution to complex organizational problems--other than to plead for the use of more imagination on the part of those involved. To this message I can only add ′hear hear!"
--WORK, EMPLOYMENT, AND SOCIETY
"Will be particularly appreciated by those who learn by, and take heart from, worked examples. . . . All the chapter titles are highly evocative and a quick scan of the excellently abstracted contents pages will help you decide whether to invest the time or not. . . . In the sense that it offers managers a ′show-how guide′ to becoming their own theorist, Imaginization is potentially radical and empowering. What it emphasizes consistently is the fact that we all have theories about the situations we face, and that it is those same inner constructs which can provide the seeds of creative transformation. . . . Following his examples could go a long way to convincing managers that the answers they seek lie within their own hearts rather than outside them in the head of some ′expert.′ It also provides a useful model of truly facilitative expert behaviour both in providing generic metaphors and models to help simplify and focus complex situations and in creating a supportive environment in which powerful inner wisdom can be evoked, shared, and creatively synthesized."
--MANAGEMENT LEARNING
"The chapters in this book are themselves imaginative, with varied presentations and opportunities for reader participation; most demonstrate imaginization in action via case studies drawn from Morgan′s experience as a consultant and leader of management workshops. Sacha Warunkiw′s clever drawings, sprinkled liberally throughout the text, support the importance of metaphor in Imaginization."
--JOURNAL OF ACADEMIC LIBRARIONSHIP
"As always, Gareth Morgan manages to put into words wonderful pictures and a good way of making concrete things that aren′t always easy to see. I have always enjoyed his writing. Provides a guideline for making the theoretical practical"
--Mary Giles, ...
--Anne Golden, President, United Way of Greater Toronto
"The book is exciting. It opens up ways of developing both organization and management. It inspires ideas of excellence and achievement and gives hope for this age. You can probably open this book anywhere and find something of value."
--BUSINESS AGE
"Morgan has written an amazing book on imaginative ways of organizing and managing organizations. . . . a book about a new management theory that can self-organize, evolve, twist, turn, and perhaps change at the speed of light. The work provides a way of helping managers understand and develop their creative potential. It offers a means of finding innovative solutions to difficult problems. Anyone interested in modern-day organizations and personal empowerment should read this book....Belongs on the bookshelf of every manager seeking creative ways to transform one′s organization and oneself."
--JOURNAL OF ACADEMIC LIBRARIANSHIP
"The stories provide powerful examples of how the use of metaphors can help people in an organization understand their complex feelings and how discussion of the concepts contained in metaphors can help develop a shared sense of vision for the future. . . . Imaginization is definitely worth reading. The author strikes a responsive cord in calling for new organizational approaches to deal with a dynamic future, and he establishes credibility through numerous examples that document the use of his consulting techniques. . . . One might argue that the book lacks structure and focus. This is true if one is committed to the traditional, hierarchical way of presenting ideas. Visionaries are freed from such constraints as they allow their creativity to flow--and Gareth Morgan is indeed a visionary."
--SRA JOURNAL
"Imaginization is filled with thought-provoking metaphors (e.g., holograms for organizational design, termites for strategic planning, spider plants for flexibility and decentralization), primitive, but compelling illustrations and stimulating case studies--many of which are products of Morgan′s action-learning research on imaginization. This highly readable book rests on a solid underpinning of scholarly research, creative introspection, and originality. This is anything but pop-biz, but it sure could fool you at first glance."
--STERN′S HR MANAGEMENT REVIEW
"A valuable, interesting, and practical addition to the book collection. . . .If you are looking for an amusing and lighthearted trip through Morgan′s Metaphoric Management Manual then this is certainly worth a look. Moreover, and I think this is the real value of Morgan′s book, he doesn′t advocate a simple prescriptive solution to complex organizational problems--other than to plead for the use of more imagination on the part of those involved. To this message I can only add ′hear hear!"
--WORK, EMPLOYMENT, AND SOCIETY
"Will be particularly appreciated by those who learn by, and take heart from, worked examples. . . . All the chapter titles are highly evocative and a quick scan of the excellently abstracted contents pages will help you decide whether to invest the time or not. . . . In the sense that it offers managers a ′show-how guide′ to becoming their own theorist, Imaginization is potentially radical and empowering. What it emphasizes consistently is the fact that we all have theories about the situations we face, and that it is those same inner constructs which can provide the seeds of creative transformation. . . . Following his examples could go a long way to convincing managers that the answers they seek lie within their own hearts rather than outside them in the head of some ′expert.′ It also provides a useful model of truly facilitative expert behaviour both in providing generic metaphors and models to help simplify and focus complex situations and in creating a supportive environment in which powerful inner wisdom can be evoked, shared, and creatively synthesized."
--MANAGEMENT LEARNING
"The chapters in this book are themselves imaginative, with varied presentations and opportunities for reader participation; most demonstrate imaginization in action via case studies drawn from Morgan′s experience as a consultant and leader of management workshops. Sacha Warunkiw′s clever drawings, sprinkled liberally throughout the text, support the importance of metaphor in Imaginization."
--JOURNAL OF ACADEMIC LIBRARIONSHIP
"As always, Gareth Morgan manages to put into words wonderful pictures and a good way of making concrete things that aren′t always easy to see. I have always enjoyed his writing. Provides a guideline for making the theoretical practical"
--Mary Giles, ...
- GenresManagementLeadership
384 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1993
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
March 16, 2018
Imaginization is a bit more of a free-flowing, real-life version of Morgan's Images of Organization (although with different images provided). Like Images, it runs out of steam after a while, and can be put aside once you sense it has reached that point.
May 24, 2022
As a consultant this was a great read - helping to creatively encounter teams and organizations outside the dry, drab and disinfected way corporations are run.
July 11, 2009
First off, I'm a little weird in that I like books to "feel" a certain way. This one just didn't have that element. The pages were chalky, the cover stiff...you just couldn't get comfortable with this book.
That being said, Morgan dives right into the concept of metaphor. While his metaphors can extend understanding to the masses, the book borders on being a little corny. When reading this for class, I found it interesting that many of my classmates seemed to reject the metaphors because those metaphors didn't fit neatly with their organization. These are very intelligent people, mind you. I think the main message of this book is that one needs to view the organization through the lens of the metaphor as opposed to the metaphor through the lens of the organization.
This book is meant to stimulate thought, not necessarily provide a "one through ten" how-to series. Certainly worth reading, but approach it with an open mind.
That being said, Morgan dives right into the concept of metaphor. While his metaphors can extend understanding to the masses, the book borders on being a little corny. When reading this for class, I found it interesting that many of my classmates seemed to reject the metaphors because those metaphors didn't fit neatly with their organization. These are very intelligent people, mind you. I think the main message of this book is that one needs to view the organization through the lens of the metaphor as opposed to the metaphor through the lens of the organization.
This book is meant to stimulate thought, not necessarily provide a "one through ten" how-to series. Certainly worth reading, but approach it with an open mind.
March 26, 2009
I have always felt good reading Gareth's books. Imaginization is such a good title for this book. I mean, it truly shows us new ways of looking at organizations. For Human Resource professionals like me, such books are vitamins. it has given me new ideas of looking adn organizations and I have used some of them in my current assignment.
October 22, 2014
Use metaphors as a way to see things from a different perspective. This book goes through many real-world techniques for doing thing and offers a pretty clear picture of how this technique might work for you and your organization. Very good.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews