Seductive Atmospheres: Using Tools to Effectuate Spaces for Leadership Development

This study applies an affordance lens to understand the use of management tools and how atmospheres for change and development are created and exploited. Drawing on an ethnographic case study of a consultant-facilitated change intervention among a group of research leaders at a Danish Public Hospital, this study investigates how a business game is used as a tool to effectuate episodic spaces for leadership development. The study reveals three tool affordances and discusses how they enable and constrain episodic spaces for development and further develops the notion of seductive atmospheres as an important mechanism. The article suggests that a broader understanding of the use of tools and the role of atmospheres is essential for understanding how episodic spaces for development come to work in relation to organizational change and development.