A Heideggerian approach to practice-based reflexivity

Abstract

In the context of the turn to practice-based approaches to learning, this paper outlines the notion of an existential form of reflexivity as a reflexivity from within rather than from a disengaged position outside of a practice. Using the philosophy of Martin Heidegger and the existential crisis of Mort Meyerson who at the time of crisis was CEO of Ross Perot systems, the article focuses on the ‘lived experience’ of reflexivity, demonstrating the way in which theorizing itself becomes an existential practice in times of breakdowns in a manager’s taken for granted everyday coping practices. Based on Heidegger, it is argued that whilst absorbed in the demands of everyday coping, managers are not attuned to the way of being-in-the-world implied in such coping. When everyday coping breaks down, managers become attuned to the way of being-in-the-world implied in their coping.