On The Tacit Side Of Organizational Identity: Narrative Unconscious And Figured Practice

It is a paradox of research on organizational identity formation that it cannot take place without reliance upon the expressive acts people use, yet the experience of identity cannot be reduced to such expressions. People are more than they can tell. Drawing from a study of a communication agency and building on notions of self in pragmatism, anthropology, and narrative philosophy, I identify two chief dimensions of tacit organizational identity: (1) the narrative unconscious in the stories that people live by and (2) the related figuring of formative organizational practice, in particular regarding choice of and framing of projects. In the case of organization, an episode revolving around the presentation of the New Bohemian Laws' provides a window to explore both these dimensions. Implications include a refined methodological approach to identity research. It involves acknowledging feelings of identity', attending to poetics, tuning-in to refrains and styles, and pursuing a relational subjectivity.