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The purpose of this paper is to put forward an argument for the importance of social and situational dynamics present when groups of organizational members view images. This both enriches psychoanalytic theories of the visual previously brought to bear on this topic and adds a valuable psychoanalytical perspective to visual organization studies.

The paper extends Burkard Sievers’ concept of the “social photo matrix” (SPM) through an interdisciplinary review of literature in psychoanalysis, audiencing, media studies and social theory.

A socially nuanced variant of the SPM is put forward as a way to explore organizational members’ experiences of work and employment, as part of a nascent “visual methodological approach” to studying organization(s).

The ideas within this conceptual paper would benefit from empirical investigation. This would be a fruitful and interesting possibility for future research.

The paper concludes with a discussion of the contemporary utility of the SPM as a psychoanalytically‐motivated method through which to understand visually‐mediated effects of organizational action, as collectively experienced by their members and stakeholders.

The paper makes a particular contribution to the poorly‐researched area of the collective reception of organizational images and opens up possibilities to work with the hidden anxieties and defences that arise in the course of organizational action.

The author is revisiting the body of his papers on Herman Melville's Moby Dick, which he began writing some 15 years ago. Though these writings have remained an “unwritten book”, Melville's works had a lasting impact on his thinking and writing up to the present. The purpose of this paper is to reveal some of the experiences and emotions concomitant with academic writing that remain more often than not hidden from the reader.

This paper is a personal reminiscence on the experience of academic writing for about four decades. It is a story of how an academic becomes acquainted with and then influenced/inspired by a piece of literature and discovers how many organisational topics may be illuminated by works of literature.

Even an unwritten book does not necessarily lead to completely neglecting what had been written. This may be a relief and an encouragement to others, who realize they are not alone in this respect.

The paper adds some further insight into the not‐so‐obvious and broadly hidden experience of the “production process” of academic writing and illustrates the relevance and importance of literature for further thinking on such topics as management and organization.

Looks at the case of leadership succession from a man to a woman. Uses the myth of Athene and Zeus to illustrate this point. Presents an explanation and an understanding of the conflict. Concludes that experience is shaped by unconsciousness.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between friendship and betrayal. Both are perceived to involve dynamics that can have a major impact in organizations, but both have tended to be under researched.

The paper brings together ideas from psychoanalysis (object relations theory), archetypal psychology, and the history of ideas (the friendship tradition). It also uses a case study to explore how the emerging framework applies in reality.

The exploration led to the conclusion that betrayal may have its roots at the same deep level of the psyche as friendship and they may, therefore, be equally fundamental developmentally.

The paper opens up an important area for further study and application. It is intended to give status to two experiences that are of great importance to managers and managed, leaders and led, consultants and students.

The purpose of this paper is to explore how financial risk is managed and commercial decisions are made within a successful UK livestock market.

An autoethnographic approach is used, in which the researcher is both active participant and reflective observer.

In contrast to “best practice” described in management texts, commercial risk management and financial decision making in this community are successfully guided by rumour.

The paper is limited to the extent that one believes in the validity of autoethnography, however, it is argued that these findings are a reflection of the wider nature of the agricultural community, immersed as it is in life and death, and that this culture is significantly different to that commonly addressed by textbooks.

This paper highlights a distinction between the tenets of the western world as addressed in textbooks and the agricultural community that exists alongside, and it suggests that following best practice might not lead to success if that best practice is ignorant of the culture in which it is rooted.

This paper provides empirical evidence that the tenets of the rural community are at odds with those of sanitised western management and that successful management of financial risk is culture specific. It questions why such differences exist and furthers debate about the influence of “our common neglect of death”.

Explores how psychoanalytic thinking can contribute to the management of the conflicting emotions stimulated by change. Suggests that successful change management depends on a combination of “positive” and “negative” capabilities. The positive capabilities involve the management of the substantive content of any change initiative, the change process itself, and the roles and procedures required by both of these. However, even when these three “technical” aspects are well managed, change always arouses anxiety and uncertainty. As a result, there is a tendency to “disperse” energy; that is, to be deflected from the task into a range of avoidance tactics. Through a particular understanding of such “dispersal” and its opposite, the “capacity to contain”, psychoanalysis can suggest how this counterproductive tendency may be more effectively managed. The British psychoanalyst Wilfred Bion called this capacity to contain “negative capability”.

The notion of the unconscious is introduced and contextualised as part of the larger psychodynamics relevant to the process of managing change. The other papers in this special issue are introduced.