Article:
Popular management writing and discourse fascinates me for two reasons. First, it makes me ask the questions,
“Why did this writing and discourse ever become „popular‟?” and “Why would someone ever want to read
popular management literature?” Second, popular management writing and discourse fascinates me because so
much of it professes new forms of organizing and methods of managing when in fact quite a bit looks
suspiciously familiar. In fact, the question of popularity may be linked to the content of the genre.
The new practices of organizing and managing offered in the genre also lead to new or revitalized forms of
organizational identity with corresponding new or revitalized combinations of enablement and constraint. In
other words, processes of organizing involve “making people up” (du Gay, 1996; Hacking, 1986); as people
organize, they shape themselves. Important questions are: “How does popular management writing and
discourse make people up?” and “Does this shaping of people account for the popularity of the genre?” I
consider these questions by discussing data from people trained to use Stephen R. Covey‟s (1989) The 7Habits
of Highly Effective People. I close the article by addressing some implications of popular management discourse
and writing for organizational scholars and members.