Spirituality and Entrepreneurship: The Role of Magical Thinking in Future-Oriented Sensemaking

Ganzin, Max, Islam, Gazi and Suddaby, Roy R ORCID: 0000-0002-9167-9180 (2020) Spirituality and Entrepreneurship: The Role of Magical Thinking in Future-Oriented Sensemaking. Organization Studies, 41 (1). pp. 77-102.

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Abstract

Drawing from a qualitative empirical study of Canadian entrepreneurs, we seek to understand the nature of entrepreneurial thinking. More specifically, we analyse entrepreneurs’ cognitive capacity to mitigate the risk inherent in an uncertain future and overcome low community expectations of entrepreneurial success. We introduce the notion of ‘magical thinking’, an emergent construct that refers to a cluster of beliefs that maintain the motivation and focus of entrepreneurs by transmuting agency from a rational-scientific context in which the entrepreneur imposes his or her will on the environment, to a spiritual context in which the entrepreneur perseveres by remaining true to trust in a wider cosmological belief system. We identify three key elements of magical thinking – finding one’s path, obtaining the answers and being at peace.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Entrepreneurship, Magical realism, Narrative analysis, Prospective sensemaking
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	19 Feb 2019 16:15
Last Modified:	19 Jan 2023 01:04
DOI:	10.1177/0170840618819035
Related URLs:	Author Publisher
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3032540