Tristram Shandy deconstructs the conventions of the emerging modern novel almost as fast as its conventions were minted on the page by other 18th century writers. In consequence, readers of this early novel could not just consume the words on the page as they might do with a history but they required instead an aesthetics of disposal to help them to manage the endless digressions, the blanks in text, and the ambulation in chronology of this most disorganised of novels. In this paper listening to ruptures and fissures in the text is likened to the work of employees today, who similarly have to manage the inter-plays of convention and invention within the disorganisation of the contemporary corporation.

This special number of Tamara presents papers on systems, (im-)possibilities and possibilities of listening, which is a very rich theme, needing exploration. The articles are less applied and more experimental. They reflect the interest in applied philosophy found in portions of organizational and management studies in Europe.

Most theories of organisation express themselves through only one sense: that of sight. Can we begin to listen to organisations? If we examine ourselves in this [i.e. When we try], we find that, above and beyond our comprehension, nudging it, there are elements related to listening such as: silence, background noise, atmosphere and Stimmung. For instance, in listening to baroque music - such as, the Goldberg Variations of Bach - organisation is in a different topology. Concepts enter in of folds and of world, of Ritornello and of rhythm, of counterpoint and of harmony… all of which can help us to understand organisations, and thus to put forward new analyses. Can we think of life in its bosom?