Working in Uncertainty

Charlotte von Bülow and Peter Simpson
Additional contact information
Charlotte von Bülow: University of the West of England
Peter Simpson: University of the West of England

Chapter Chapter 2 in Negative Capability in Leadership Practice, 2022, pp 5-19 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract Negative Capability was conceived by the English poet, John Keats. We note that applications of the idea in leadership studies have tended to interpret it as a ‘positive capability’: as ways of thinking, feeling, or doing. This is an approach that we challenge in more detail in chapter three, arguing that Keats’ understanding of Negative Capability was more existential: to be capable of being in uncertainty without needing to grasp for knowledge and certainty. We discuss how he saw the influence of Negative Capability in both the ordinary interactions between people, particularly in its contribution to a higher quality of thinking, as well as in relation to the extraordinary—the ability to gain insight into the transcendent qualities of Beauty, Truth and Goodness. These ideas are then discussed in relation to modern leadership practice, and how Negative Capability relates to the practice of attention, a sense of purpose, the work of leisure, and passion in leadership practice. This provides an outline of the conceptual framework that structures the book.

Date: 2022
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:sprchp:978-3-030-95768-1_2

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/9783030957681

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-95768-1_2

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in Springer Books from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().