The Star that ate Itself

Abstract

It is very difficult to overestimate the role that metaphor plays in making sense of organizations, particularly when the metaphors are cosmic and dramatic. Stars, galaxies, black holes. These concepts have been borrowed by so-called strategic experts with such enthusiasm that physicists now flinch when they hear the word “vision”. But never afraid to gently reinvent the cosmic wheel, the IdeaSquare self-appointed innovation team set itself the challenge of understanding organizational implosion through the historical journey of black hole research. In other words: “black-holifying” the study of organizational collapse, a word that, much like many others, exists only because someone insisted on using it.
Armed with this galactic ambition, the team decided not to follow any strict methodological roadmap (as it is already traditional) but instead float freely through the universe of ideas, allowing gravity, coffee, and meeting fatigue to guide its inquiry.