Bakhtin meets Morin: The recursive role of disruption and continuity in the emergence of novelty

Abstract

In recent years, there has been a move to highlight the role of disruption and continuity in producing novelty. Embedded in disruption and continuity is the notion of arresting moments that often occurs spontaneously. Indeed, the inherent capability underpinning the notion of arresting moments could and should occupy the center stage in the field. It is shown that in the contemporary management thinking the explanation developed thus far remains predicated upon an account of arresting moments that is largely monotonic as well as singular in the sense that progression is preserved according to a given order. This rationalization of arresting moments stops short of showcasing an in-depth understanding of the process through which moments are refracted to produce novelty. The dialogic theories of Bakhtin and Morin are drawn on to rectify the treatment. Based on an empirical investigation, we shed a new light on the novelty process by advancing an understanding of how arresting moments unfold over time in an evolving context, hence leading to transgredience, or surplus of new insights. To that end, we explore arresting moments not as a singular event but as part of a process where a number of arresting moments occur.