Tempered Radicalism and the Politics of Ambivalence and Change Author(s): Debra E. Meyerson and Maureen A. Scully Source: Organization Science, Vol. 6, No. 5 (Sep. - Oct., 1995), pp. 585-600 Published by: INFORMS Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2634965 Accessed: 03-05-2018 19:02 UTC REFERENCES Linked references are available on JSTOR for this article: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2634965?seq=1&cid=pdf-reference#references_tab_contents You may need to log in to JSTOR to access the linked references. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at http://about.jstor.org/terms INFORMS is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Organization Science This content downloaded from 130.91.164.141 on Thu, 03 May 2018 19:02:03 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms When I read the first draft of this manuscript it provided a genuine "aha" experience. I felt that "tempered radicalism" was a concept that had been waiting to be invented. Meyerson and Scully, in my view, have grasped an important idea and have written about it in a careful and an illuminating way. It's one of those papers, I suspect, that some people will react to by thinking: "I wish I had written that!" Further, I can see others I know well in the field as fitting the description of the tempered radical, at least in some circumstances and at different times. The reviewers, while suggesting changes, as reviewers do, were also very taken with the paper. It is intellectually interesting, and evocative. It provides us with a perspective on organizational issues that is typically glossed. It opens an arena for organizational analysis that is missed in most theoretical frameworks. Tempered radicals, Meyerson and Scully argue, are individuals who identify with and are committed to their organizations and also to a cause, community or ideology that is fundamentally different from, and possibly at odds with, the dominant culture of their organization. Their radicalism stimulates them to challenge the status quo. Their temperedness reflects the way they have been toughened by challenges, angered by what they see as injustices or ineffectiveness, and inclined to seek moderation in their interactions with members closer to the centre of organizational values and orientations. The paper is a scholarly treatment of a complex concept. It is radical in its charge to us to see new possibilities in the study of organization. It is tempered, even hopeful, in its prescriptions for harnessing participants who are often on the margins of organizational life and who have much to offer to enrich and sustain positive change in organizations. It is a very appropriate contribution to Crossroads. Peter Frost Tempered Radicalism and the Politics of Ambivalence and Change Debra E. Meyerson* * Maureen A. Scully School of Business, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109 and Graduate School of Business, Stanford University, Stanford, Califomia 94305 (visiting, 1995 and 1996) Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139 *Please address correspondence to the first author at the Stanford address or through email ([email protected]). 1047-7039/95/0605/0585/$01.25 Copyright ? 1995. Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences ORGANIZATION SCIENCE/VOl. 6, No. 5, September-October 1995 585 This content downloaded from 130.91.164.141 on Thu, 03 May 2018 19:02:03 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms DEBRA MEYERSON AND MAUREEN SCULLY Crossroads Abstract However, separatism and surrender are not the only "Tempered Radicals" are individuals who identify with and options. While frustration may be inevitable, individu- are committed to their organizations, and are also committed als can effect change, even radical change, and still to a cause, community, or ideology that is fundamentally enjoy fulfilling, productive, authentic careers. We write different from, and possibly at odds with the dominant cul- this paper about and for the people who work within ture of their organization. The ambivalent stance of these mainstream organizations and professions and want individuals creates a number of special challenges and oppor- also to transform them. We call these individuals "tem- tunities. Based on interviews, conversations, personal reflec- pered radicals" and the process they enact "tempered tions, and archival reports, this paper describes the special radicalism." circumstances faced by tempered radicals and documents We chose the name "tempered radical" deliberately some of the strategies used by these individuals as they try to make change in their organizations and sustain their ambiva- to describe our protagonist. These individuals can be lent identities. called "radicals" because they challenge the status quo, (Organizational Change; OrganizationalActivism; Women both through their intentional acts and also just by in Management; Minorities in Management; Ambiva- being who they are, people who do not fit perfectly. lence; Identity; Fit; Feminism in Organizations; We chose the word "tempered" because of its multiple Marginality) meanings. These people are tempered in the sense that they seek moderation ("temper blame with praise," Webster's New World Dictionary, 1975). In the language of physics, they are tempered in that they have become A woman executive can identify with feminist language tougher by being alternately heated up and cooled that is far from commonplace in corporate life and down. They are also tempered in the sense that they challenges the very foundations of the corporation in have a temper: they are angered by the incongruities which she holds office. She can also be loyal to her between their own values and beliefs about social jus- corporation, earnestly engaged by many of its practices tice and the values and beliefs they see enacted in their and issues, and committed to a career in a traditional, organizations. Temper can mean both "an outburst of male-dominated organization or profession. A male rage" and "equanimity, composure," seemingly incon- business, school professor can hold an identity as a gruous traits required by tempered radicals. radical humanist and embrace values directly in contest Tempered radicals experience tensions between the with capitalist corporations. He can also be committed status quo and alternatives, which can fuel organiza- to his job in the business school and teach practices tional transformation. While a great deal of attention that, in effect, enforce the tenets of capitalist organiza- has been devoted to issues of organizational "fit," tions. An African-American architect can identify with change often comes from the margins of an organiza- her ethnic community and be committed to creating a tion, borne by those who do not fit well. Sources of more equitable and healthy urban environment. She change can give organizations welcomed vibrancy, but can also identify with a professional elite and be com- at the same time, the changes that the tempered radi- mitted to an organization that perpetuates the decay of cal encourages may threaten members who are vested urban neighborhoods. These individuals do not easily in the status quo. Is this transformation "good for" the fit within the dominant cultures of their organizations organization? The answer may change as standards of or professions. However, despite their lack of fit, or judgment change, for example, when an organization perhaps because of it, they can behave as committed shifts from a stockholder to a stakeholder model. Many and productive members and act as vital sources of people ask us "what exactly" the tempered radical can resistance, alternative ideas, and transformation within change, and "how much." One dilemma for the tem- their organizations. pered radical is that the nature and effectiveness of These individuals must struggle continuously to han- change actions is elusive, emergent, and difficult to dle the tension between personal and professional gauge. The yardstick for change frequently changes identities at odds with one another. This struggle may metrics. In this paper, we will not focus on whether the be invisible, but it is by no means rare. Women and tempered radical ultimately wins the battle for change, members of minorities have become disheartened by but rather on how she remains engaged in the dual feelings of fraudulence and loss as they try to fit into project of working within the organization and working the dominant culture. Some leave the mainstream. to change the organization. We focus on the individu- Others silence their complaints and surrender their als themselves, the perspectives they assume, the chal- identities. lenges they face, and the survival strategies they use. It 586 ORGANIZATION SCIENCE/VOl. 6, No. 5, September-October 1995 This content downloaded from 130.91.164.141 on Thu, 03 May 2018 19:02:03 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms DEBRA MEYERSON AND MAUREEN SCULLY Crossroads is important to understand these individuals as central change, they reshape the context into one where it is a figures in the battle for change because if they leave bit easier to sustain their radical identities. Untem- the organization, burn out, or become coopted, then pered, this approach may alienate those in power and they cannot contribute fully to the process of change threaten the tempered radical's professional identity from inside. and status. The tempered radical may therefore cool- Writing this paper is an example of tempered radi- headedly play the game to get ahead, but does not calism. We discuss our own and others' radical identi- want to get so caught up in the game that she violates ties and implicitly critique professional and bureau- or abandons her personal identity and beliefs.