On reading, writing, and researching differently in leadership: Professor Barbara Simpson, University of Strathclyde

Event Date: 19 February 2025

Speaker: Professor Barbara Simpson

Time: 2-2.40 pm

Location: Strathclyde Business School, Cathedral Wing, Room 4.04a

In this seminar, Professor Simpson will be introducing her new book ‘Diffracting collaborative leadership: a Pragmatist project’. Her argument is motivated by urgency for fresh and radical thinking about leadership, thinking capable of producing futures that are better for all of us, and also for the planet. One possible way forward, instead of seeking to represent the presumed ‘realities’ of leadership, is to adopt a processual ontology in which leadership emerges as the consequence of socially engaged effort. Working within an alternative ontology though, requires different ways of theorising, different ways of writing, and different methods for engaging with empirical experience. Professor Simpson approaches these challenges through Pragmatist philosophy, unfurling diffraction as the method par excellence for researching worlds-on-the-move. If time permits, she will illustrate her argument by drawing on the empirical experience of sitting with the senior management team of an arts-based company over a period of six months at their regular weekly meetings.

Published: 4 February 2025