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In this paper, we contribute to the theorizing of patient involvement in organizational improvement by exploring concepts of “learning from patients” as mechanisms of organizational change. Using the concept of metaphor as a theoretical bridge, we analyse interview data (n = 20) from participants in patient engagement activities from two case study organizations in Ontario, Canada. Inspired by classic organizational scholars, we ask “what is the organization that it might learn from patients?”

Patient involvement activities are used as part of quality improvement efforts in healthcare organizations worldwide. One fundamental assumption underpinning this activity is the notion that organizations must “learn from patients” in order to enact positive organizational change. Despite this emphasis on learning, there is a paucity of research that theorizes learning or connects concepts of learning to organizational change within the domain of patient involvement.

Through our analysis, we interpret a range of metaphors of the organization, including organizations as (1) power and politics, (2) systems and (3) narratives. Through these metaphors, we display a range of possibilities for interpreting how organizations might learn from patients and associated implications for organizational change.

This analysis has implications for how the framing of the organization matters for concepts of learning in patient engagement activities and how misalignments might stymie engagement efforts. We argue that the concept and commitment to “learning from patients” would be enriched by further engagement with the sociology of knowledge and critical concepts from theories of organizational learning.

In exploring the impact of reflective and work applied approaches, the authors are curious how vivid new insights and collective “Eureka” momentums occur. These momentums can be forces for work communities to gain competitive advantages. However, the authors know little of how learning is actively involved in the processing of creating new insights and how such a turning to learning mode (Pässilä and Owens, 2016) can be facilitated. In the light of cultural studies and art education, the purpose of this paper is to explore how the method of dramatising characters (DC) in a specific innovation culture can be facilitated. In this viewpoint, the authors are suggesting one approach for this type of turning to learning which the authors call Beyond Text, outlining its theoretical underpinnings, its co-creative development and its application.

In this Beyond Text context, the authors are introducing the method of DC and the method of iStory both of which are the authors’ own design based on the theory of the four existing categories of a research-based theatre.

The findings of this viewpoint paper are that both iStory as well as DC methods are useful and practical learning facilitation processes and platforms that can be adopted for use in organisations for promoting reflexivity. Especially they can act as a bridge between various forms of knowing and consummate the other knowledge types (experiential, practical and propositional) in a way that advances practice-based innovation.

The originality and value of iStory and DC is that they can be utilised as dialogical evaluation methods when traditional evaluation strategies and pre-determined indicators are unusable.

The subject of innovation in public service has been gaining attention in Brazilian scientific practice and production. This paper aims to identify national studies on innovation in public administration and increase the level of knowledge about the subject, as well as to inspire new research and promote advances in theoretical and practical knowledge about innovation in the public sector.

The present study has a descriptive purpose, quantitative nature and was performed through a bibliometric study based on the protocol proposed by Cronin et al. (2008). Documentary data were collected from scientific articles, and quantitative techniques for descriptive statistics were used to analyze the results. Were selected Brazilian scientific journals classified with Qualis equal to or higher than B1, in the area of Public Administration and Business, Accounting and Tourism, in the quadrennium 2013-2016; a total of 164 journals searched.

The results herein indicate a research gap that should be filled by more theoretical studies. Also, they point to the need for multimethod research studies that promote the evaluation of product and process innovation, especially related to the phases of invention and implementation.

Few studies have covered public administration and, especially, innovation reviews; none of these studies focused on innovation in the Brazilian public sector, as proposed by this research; the period of analysis and coverage of journals used as search criteria also differ from other reviews in the area of innovation and public sector.