Towards a new model of strategy-making as serious play

A new model of strategy-making as play is presented in response to increasing calls for a deeper theory of strategy-making. First an elaboration of the construct of strategic imagination is offered, describing three distinct, but interrelated forms of imagination: descriptive, creative, and challeng...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inEuropean management journal Vol. 17; no. 4; pp. 348 - 355
Main Authors Roos, Johan, Victor, Bart
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published London Elsevier Ltd 01.08.1999
Elsevier
Elsevier Science
Elsevier Science Ltd
SeriesEuropean Management Journal
Subjects
Imagination
Organizational learning
Strategic planning
Studies
United States > US
Europe
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Summary:A new model of strategy-making as play is presented in response to increasing calls for a deeper theory of strategy-making. First an elaboration of the construct of strategic imagination is offered, describing three distinct, but interrelated forms of imagination: descriptive, creative, and challenging. Strategic Imagination is defined as an emergent property of a complex interplay between the three kinds of imagination. Then, extending the work of the planning and design schools, the model describes the complex social dynamic of strategy-making itself. Applying the notion of play from anthropology and cognitive development, the strategy-making process is described as a three-phase play process. The three phases, constructing to stimulate new ideas, story telling to share meaning, and deep engagement to assimilate new directions, are described. Finally some directions for strategy-making practice improvement are offered.
ISSN:0263-2373
1873-5681
1873-5681
DOI:10.1016/S0263-2373(99)00015-8