Patterning from Art in Organizational Space

According to the Iran Book News Agency (IBNA) in Qazvin, in the first meeting of the series of Book Week sessions of Islamic Azad University Qazvin, the book “Essays in Organizational Aesthetics” written by Mohammad Zakeri was reviewed in the presence of the book’s author and a group of professors, students, and provincial government officials.

Smartphones have caused a distancing from books

At the beginning of the session, Hamed Rahmani, the university’s research deputy, explained the goals of holding Book Week and said: Due to the widespread use of smartphones and social networks, a gap has formed between students and books, and many students have no interest in deep and focused study of their textbooks either.

He added: In this event, by introducing several selected and specialized books with the presence of authors and holding reading competitions, more motivation will be created among students for reading good books.

He then introduced the book “Essays in Organizational Aesthetics” and its author, stating: Despite his various occupations and responsibilities in the country’s administrative system, Mohammad Zakeri has never abandoned the fields of study, research, and authorship, and his artistic interest and activity have led him to make this new subject the basis for the authorship and publication of this book, which has placed it among the final nominees for the 1402 Book of the Year Award.

The power of improvisation in leaders and employees is the key to their success and resilience

In the next section, Mohammad Zakeri, the author of the book, explained his motivation for writing it: “Our perspective and intellectual structure in management and organizational science are largely influenced by modernist ideas, and concepts such as effectiveness, efficiency, productivity, work measurement, time measurement, and increasing production, product, revenue, and profit have always held a central place in the thought, expression, and actions of scholars and practitioners in organizational fields. However, with the promotion of postmodernist notions in organizational science and management, it is now the aesthetic human who enters the organization and seeks to perceive beauty and other aesthetic manifestations such as ugliness, sanctity, ridicule, etc., in their lived experience within organizational life.”

He said: “From my point of view, aesthetic perceptions manifest themselves in two key areas within an organization: leadership and organizational culture.”

Zakeri continued by referring to different chapters of the book, presenting examples of an aesthetic approach and patterning from art in the organizational space, stating: “For instance, what an orchestra conductor does serves as a model for actions that an organizational leader should also implement.”

He also referred to the topic of storytelling in organizations and considered the market, beyond products and services, as an arena for the competition of stories and narratives, saying: “Anyone who can present a more appealing and acceptable story and narrative will be more successful in personal, organizational, and product branding, organizational change, human resource training and development, knowledge management, and other areas of organizational administration.”

Referring to the accelerating trend of technological changes and work environments, Zakeri described improvisation, which stems from Indian, Iranian, and jazz musical traditions, as an alternative approach to planning and strategic planning, stating: “In the current era, the power of improvisation in leaders and employees is the key to their success and resilience in the turbulent operational environment of organizations.”

Neglect of Aesthetic Experiences

In the final section of this session, Naeimeh Morsali, a faculty member of the Management Faculty of Islamic Azad University Qazvin, referring to the traditional definition of management as the science and art of utilizing individuals and resources to achieve organizational goals, identified the novelty and distinction of this book as its focus on the artistic dimension of management and organization. Referring to the last chapter of the book, she considered paying attention to artistic and aesthetic dimensions in the architectural design of organizational spaces as an alternative to design based on maximum space utilization, stating: “A significant portion of employee turnover in public and private organizations results from neglecting employees’ aesthetic experiences in the physical space of the organization.”

The first edition of the book “Essays in Organizational Aesthetics,” published by Siahrood Publications in 1401 (Solar Hijri calendar, approximately 2022-2023 CE), was released to the market in 310 pages.