Understanding Arts-Based Methods in Managerial Development

Abstract

With the rising use of arts-based methods in organizational development and change, scholars have started to inquire into how and why these methods work. We identify four processes that are particular to the way in which arts-based methods contribute to the development of individual organization managers and leaders: through the transference of artistic skills, through projective techniques, through the evocation of “essence,” and through creating artifacts such as masks, collages, or sculpture, a process we call “making.” We illustrate these processes in detail with two case examples and then discuss the implications for designing the use of arts-based methods for managerial and leadership development.