He is one of the leading figures in the American Academy of Management and he is seen by many as one of the most influential thinkers and writers in the field.

Preface vii

Acknowledgments ix

Part I Introduction 1

1. Organized Impermanence: An Overview 3

2. Mundane Poetics: Searching for Wisdom in Organizational Theory 9

3. Faith, Evidence, and Action: Better Guesses in an Unknowable World 27

Part II Attending 45

4. Managing the Unexpected: Complexity as Distributed Sensemaking 47

5. Information Overload Revisited 65
Kathleen M. Sutcliffe and Karl. E Weick

6. Organizing for Mindfulness: Eastern Wisdom and Western Knowledge 85
Karl E. Weick and Ted Putnam

Part III Interpretation 107

7. Making Sense of Blurred Images: Mindful Organizing in Mission STS-107 109

8. Organizing and the Process of Sensemaking 129
Karl E. Weick, Kathleen M. Sutcliffe, and David Obstfeld

9. Impermanent Systems and Medical Errors: Variety Mitigates Adversity 153

Part IV Action 173

10. Hospitals as Cultures of Entrapment: A Re-analysis of the Bristol Royal Infirmary 175
Karl E. Weick and Kathleen M. Sutcliffe

11. Enacting an Environment: The Infrastructure of Organizing 189

12. Positive Organizing and Organizational Tragedy 207

Part V Learning and Change 223

13. Emergent Change as a Universal in Organizations 225

14. Drop Your Tools: An Allegory for Organizational Studies 243

15. Leadership as the Legitimation of Doubt 261

Epilogue 273

References 275

Index 281