The learning history is designed to describe the coming about of best practices, with their reproduction in mind. In this paper, I discuss the implications of this instrument and present a modified version. I use a so-called discursive learning history to zoom in on the interaction between a convergent, official, organisational narrative on the one hand, and people acting according to their own stories on the other. Narrative structures help to create an inner logic that help people to make sense of their organisation. An example is the battlefield metaphor I identified in an academic business school. With this instrument managers can identify patterns in the complexity of their organisations and understand what seems irrational at first sight. It is often assumed that we can learn form history. Looking at the past and reconstructing what happened during a significant event seems an ideal way to create the coherent plot we feel comfortable with and learn from for the future. A discursive learning history shows there is more to organisations then meets the eye.
Basten (2011). Narrating around. Journal of Management Development, 30, 3 (260-269).
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