Robert Barner. (2007). The Dark Tower: Using Metaphors to facilitate emotional expression during Organizational Change.

Journal of Organizational Change Management, Vol 21 o.1, 200!, ".120#1$7. Its an interesting descriptive case study that sheds light on the significance of visual metaphors in organizational change initiatives as an emotional grievance ventilation mechanism & a tool of making a sense of the change events. It is demonstrated by the author through the construction of drawings as visual metaphors to facilitate the group members of an organization express their emotional reaction to organizational change that they otherwise are unable to freely express due to various organizational barriers imposed on them & at the same time also form a shared experience of it. The author adopts a design methodology that involves forming groups of seven members each that is asked to construct a drawing to convey their reaction to an on-going change initiative in their organization. The roup that is author has selected for the case study is one of several groups formed. !owever the particular reason for selecting this for the purpose of analysis is that it is heterogeneous in character & that all of group members are among the employees of the organization. "ork group draws its thoughts regarding organizational change in the form of a visual metaphor of a dark tower that symbolizes its strong negative emotions to organizational change initiatives. The group formulated its final metaphor construction of dark tower after three successive drawings showing different level of emotional anger & frustration of the change event. !owever as also accepted by the author the case study did not attempt to provide a comparative review of metaphor constructions across work groups# nor was it supplemented by use of other research methods# such as structured interviews# $uestionnaires etc# to confirm the findings. The study is primarily aimed at providing the researchers to gain a more in-depth understanding of collective experience of groups during organizational change events. %ccording to !ill & &evenhagen '())*+ ,etaphors provide a very powerful medium for understanding understanding & presenting ideas relating to organizational change events that are not always available through the kinds of formal research methods such as structured interviews or $uestionnaires. !owever# the . ,organ '()-.+ is of the view that metaphor is based upon a partial truth & built on one-sided abstraction in which certain features are emphasized & others suppressed. /imilarly according to him metaphors rely on what he calls 0constructive-falsehood as a means of liberating the imagination. /imilarly the author of this article fails to highlight the overall emotional reaction of the employees by exclusively focusing on one of the groups only & not making comparisons of it with rest of the groups. Thus we are only given a partial picture based on one group analysis only. ray '1223+ writes that rather than looking for similarities or parallels# we should instead focus on the differences among the group members with in the group & also across the group.

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!owever# the usefulness of visual metaphors as also demonstrated by the article is by constructing an alignment i.e. organizing the actions of group members towards single purpose & motivating them towards a concerted action ',c 7ourt# ())4+. 8isual metaphors give us rich strategic insights ' ray# 1223+ into the emotional reactions of the members during organizational change events as in most of cases they are unable to express their emotional anger & frustration through other mechanisms like interviews & $uestionnaires. !owever a key potential danger of using visual metaphors as seems to done by author is exclusively focusing on 9ust one element of an organization rather than organization as a whole '6swick & ,ontgomery# ()))+. The study of the author into visual metaphors to express emotional distress should have been corroborated by other form of data like structured interviews & $uestionnaires. To :ondy '()-3+ the use of visual metaphors should be applied coupled with other methods during organizational change initiatives to gauge the reaction of employees. !e further explains it by saying that metaphors# myths & stories only capture the 0symbolic reality of & not the 0ob9ective reality of an organizational change. To him both are important in bringing out the emotional reaction to 6rganizational changes and should be used simultaneously. The picture the author gives us thus seems to be some what partial & devoid of empirical evidence. 8aill '()-3+ writes that in order to remove the inherent structural shortcomings in the use of metaphors during organizational change events to elicit the emotional reaction of employees it should be used with great caution. ;irst of all# he says that visual metaphors should be directed towards creative problem solving & its results shared with all the stake holders. In the article under review no where it seems that visual metaphors are being used for that purpose. It seems that the employees are being involved in this exercise merely for ventilating their emotional grievances to the organizational change event & no mechanism of grievance redressal seems to be in place for them. :feffer '())(+ says that metaphors are like a double-edged sword they can be used to motivate the employees & at the same time a handy tool in the hands of senior management for manipulating the employees through the superficial use of participative decision making techni$ues. %s also seems the case in the authors case study that the metaphors are being used as a safe mechanism to channel the emotional outburst of the employees to the changes they largely view as hostile. &ike what :ondy '()-3+ appears to rightly point to this fact on the use of metaphors in organizational change processes. !e says that metaphors offer a valuable paradox< it can simultaneously facilitate change & reinforce traditional values. The respected author again fails to highlight this fact in his excitement of over emphasizing the significance of visual metaphor in the case study. The reader is also not told as to why the company in $uestion is bent upon employing the services of the respected author for applying the visual metaphors techni$ue when the ma9ority of the organizations employees already seem dissatisfied with the change

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initiated by newly appointed managers of the company who have absolutely no idea about the companys employees feelings. :errow '()-.+ expresses the concern that myths & symbols can be used to rationalize & divert attention from real issues. 6nly if the power dynamics of the 6rganizational 7hange initiatives are also concerned only then this concept of visual metaphors can be useful for analysis. !owever# the author of this case study does not unravel the power dynamics which are propelling the change or tell us as to why the change is being done in the first place= To :ondy '()-3+ metaphorical thinking is common in organizations & agrees with our author that it represents a fruitful & untapped area for increasing organizational effectiveness< however it should be used not in exclusion as being adopted by the author but as a supplement to to other rational models. /imilarly another area of great concern unfortunately not pointed out by respected author is that the although the literature focusing on organization change based on metaphors is growing but its applications are at a rudimentary stage. %s 7leary & :ackard '())1+ says that metaphors are rooted in particular assumptions & ideas about the world so they themselves should be reflected on critically# including the way in which they are selectively adopted. The author should have taken a note of this too< which he is appears to have completely overlooked in his analysis regarding visual metaphors. >y using metaphor to analyze & assess organizational change processes can bring fruitful results. !owever< learning to use them effectively re$uire creativity & imagination which demands lot more research & testing than what the author seems to have done. In final analysis it can be argued that ,etaphors although presents us with a convenient tool to explain the organizational change & its impact on the employees< however at the same time they give us not the complete description of an change event ' .,organ# ()-.+ and that they should be used in addition to other core research methods such as surveys# structured interviews & $uestionnaires. ,ore over the authors research as regards to 8isual ,etaphors need additional testing & refinement so that other uses of metaphor in change events should also be developed than only 9ust focusing on emotional expression of disgruntled employees & their feltexperiences of change events. In the end it can be said that authors approach in use of application of 8isual metaphors is too narrow & should have been used as supplement to a more complete 6rganizational change process. It needs to have been used with innovation# & great care. %lthough it is an effective tool for researchers to unravel complex problems of future that emanate from organizational change events & we may need to solve complex problems of the coming years by using it. >ut it should be used as one of the tools & not the tool. "ord count? (@4*

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Referen%e& 7leary# 7 and :ackard# T. '())1+. The use of Metaphors in Organizational assessment and Change. roup and 6rganizational ,anagement# 8ol.(4# pp 1**-). ray# A. '1223+. A Gallery of Metaphors. !arvard >usiness Beview# /ept-6ct? )1-3. !ill# B.7. and &evenhagen# ,. '())*+. Metaphors & Mental Models. Cournal of ,anagement 1('.+? (2*4-4@. ,organ# '()-.+. Images Of Organization. >everly !ills# 7%? /age.

,c 7ourt# ". '())4+. Discussion Note !sing Metaphors to !nderstand & to Change Organizations" 6rganizational /tudies# (-'3+? *((-11. 6swick# 7. and ,ontgomery# C. '()))+. Images Of an Organization The !se Of Metaphors in a Multinational Company# Cournal of 6rganization 7hange. (1'.+? *2(-13. :feiffer# C. '())(+. Metaphors Characterizing the Organization.pp.(1*-(3(. /an Aiego Dniversity %ssociates. :errow# 7 '()-.+. Comple$ Organizations A Critical %ssay. 3rd ed. Eew Fork? Bandom !ouse. :ondy# & '()-3+. The &ole of metaphors & myths in Organization & in the facilitation of Change. 6rganizational /ymbolism 'pp(*4-(..+. reenwich# 7T? C%&. 8aill# : '()-3+. 'trategic (lanning for managers. %rlington# 8%? EI& Institute.

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