Using Imagery to Facilitate Organizational Development and Change

Mental imagery, known to be a powerful aid to personal change, is finding greater application in organizational settings. This article reports a research study in which the use of imagery in organization consulting was examined using a sample of 24 external and 12 internal consultants from 16 states. Suggestions for appropriate imagery work in four organizational situations were analyzed, together with details of most and least successful uses of imagery. It was concluded that a model based on Ainsworth-Land's (1982) conceptual schema could be a useful guide to imagery practice in organization consulting. The results of the study were positive and justify additional research effort directed at a further teasing out of relationships between the key variables of imagery type and organizational development level as indicated by the kinds of problems faced at particular times.