Abstract
Change has traditionally been perceived as something to be avoided in favor of stability. This can be witnessed in both individual and organizational approaches to change. In this paper, change as a process of becoming is analyzed. The author relates change to seduction to introduce new perspectives to the concept. The principal idea is that the process of change is a seductive experience. This assumption highlights the positive aspects of becoming, growing, and changing. In doing so, reference is made to the philosophy of Gilles Deleuze, as well as the humanistic psychology of Carl Rogers, to analyze seduction, as presented in The Seducer’s Diary by the philosopher Søren Kierkegaard. The qualification of this claim is based on this reading. Finally, a conclusion is offered through brief comments on the relationship between seduction, personal growth, and self-actualization.
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Notes
It should be obvious that men are not the only ones to seduce, even though literature in general has presented it this manner. In addition, the aim of this essay is not to focus on sexual intercourse, but solely to illustrate how seduction can be a tool for change in relation to personal development and growth.
Deleuze and Guattari opened Anti-Oedipus by offering some creative metaphysical claims: “everything is a machine”; “everything is production” (2001, pp. 2–4). A machine is something that connects, e.g., a baby’s mouth and the mother’s breast. A machine produces new relations, which is a way of understanding how Deleuze and Guattari affirmed the being of becoming. Later, in What is Philosophy?, Deleuze and Guattari wrote the following: “Philosophy does not consist of knowing and is not inspired by truth. Rather, it is categories like Interesting, Remarkable, or Important that determine success or failure,” (1994, p. 82). There is no formula for how one should live a life worth living; it is an ongoing experiment. In, A Thousand Plateaus, they wrote (2000, p. 161): “Lodge yourself on a stratum, experiment with the opportunities it offers, find an advantageous place on it, find potential movements of deterritorialization, possible lines of flight, experience them, produce flow conjunctions here and there…” Furthermore, Deleuze’s philosophical project can be seen as metaphysical. However, it does not include the aim of discovering what is. Instead, it focuses on how thoughts create new principles for living, i.e., becoming (Villani 2007).
For Kierkegaard, the aesthetical is all about pleasure, whereas the ethical is dealing with how to act, i.e., how to become the “editor” of one’s life. Lastly, the religious is related to suffering. Deleuze’s ethical ideas are placed in-between the ethical and the religious, but transcendence is absent. Instead, there is something strenuous about trying to be worthy, not of living up to certain ideals, but of making sense of what is the midst of becoming.
I thank one of the reviewers for clarifying this point.
Another way of describing what happens is through the four types of the “psychological contract” in HRM as defined by Boxall & Purcell (2011, p. 244–45), e.g., between Johannes (i.e., manager) and Cordelia (i.e., employee). First Johannes establishes the “partial contract” where part of his actions and rhetoric appeals to Cordelia. Then, he succeeds in establishing the “trial contract” since Cordelia plays along. Last, there is the “mismatch contract” where the rhetoric and actions of Johannes does not match the perceived reality of Cordelia. It is here she moves on and “looks for other options”, as many employees do as well (p. 252). What is interesting, however, is how The Seducer’s Diary shows how Johannes tries to establish a “congruent contract”, i.e., where the rhetoric appeals to Cordelia, because it coincide with her perception. Johannes begins to seduce, i.e., lead elsewhere, because Cordelia does not have any previous experience to rely on. The problem is, though, that he cannot follow her due to his own too restricted agenda.
Here as well, I read Kierkegaard from a Deleuzian viewpoint. For example, in Empiricism and Subjectivity, Deleuze wrote, “relations are external to their terms,” i.e., human nature is formed by encounters, not by an ideal to be represented (1991, p. 66). In addition, Deleuze hereby touched upon something that Kierkegaard dealt with in Fear and Trembling, i.e., belief anticipates knowledge (Deleuze), or faith begins where reason stops (Kierkegaard 1962b, p. 50). Although, for Kierkegaard faith does not anticipate reason, still experiences of faith might nurture a belief that, perhaps, will produce new knowledge.
Scarcity of attention also affects the organization’s planning in recruitment and selection of new employees. As one theorist points out: “The nature of work in the 21st century presents many challenges for staffing. For example, knowledge-based work places greater demands on employee competencies; there are widespread demographic, labor, societal, and cultural changes creating growing global shortfalls of qualified and competent applicants; and the workforce is increasingly diverse” (Ployhart 2006). In addition, and more importantly, at least for a professional workforce, is the fact that the distinction between one’s professional and private life is diminishing. Work has for many turned into a lifestyle, therefore, the organization also needs to pay attention to the forms of life, i.e., thoughts, feelings, behaviors and values of the employee. If work and life intermingle, then staffing is not only a strategic challenge, but also an existential.
It is related to the distinction between performance versus learning goals, where the former is related to extrinsic motivation and the latter is related to intrinsic motivation (Heyman and Dweck 1992; Dweck 2007). The idea of self-overcoming is also related to Nietzsche’s (1973) philosophy. Furthermore, the same discussion is to be found between the differences between agency and stewardship theory, where the latter focus more on intrinsic motivation Davis et al. (1997).
Johannes addresses some of the recent problem in management theory, which might be described as establishing a fruitful balance between control and trust, or control and collaboration. This raises new challenges, e.g., how may one cultivate a culture of trust and collaboration, see, e.g., Rosanas and Velilla 2005; Sundaramurthy and Lewis 2003. The approach that I suggest is for the organization to show more trust, when dealing with a professional workforce, because the organization does not know what the employee might be capable of doing. An immanent ethic, as presented here, presuppose trust. This is relatable to some of the studies conducted by Deci and Ryan (2002), e.g., autonomy, intrinsic motivation and self-organizing tendencies.
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Janning, F. Kierkegaard’s Quest: How Not to Stop Seducing. Philosophy of Management 14, 95–109 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40926-015-0010-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40926-015-0010-x