Mastering the Art of Crisis through Mythopoeic Relation to Legacy

This study explores the challenge of a legacy-bearing organization faced with existential crises wherein its need to maintain historically accreted values comes into conflict with its more basic need for continued survival. Our historiographical analysis of three crises from the history of legendary photo agency Magnum Photos indicates that to address this challenge, an organization may engage in continuous mythmaking based on organizational legacy, which we refer to as mythopoeic relation to legacy. Mythopoeic relation to legacy emerges from members’ beliefs in (a) the importance of the organization’s legacy, (b) the organization’s unique capabilities to further this legacy, and (c) the organization’s “miraculous” persistence despite adversities. During crises that challenge one of its high-priority values, mythopoeic relation to legacy triggers the switch from the ethic of conviction for this value to the ethic of responsibility for the whole system, enabling the organization to weave the episode of value violation seamlessly into the fabric of its myth, thus ensuring the continuity of organizational legacy. We refer to this positive loop, whereby crisis triggers mythopoeic relation to legacy, which in its turn helps overcome the crisis, as mastering the art of crisis. Our findings contribute to research on values and rhetorical history.