Organisational Absurdity Unveiled

You've noticed it haven't you? The absurdity that exists around you in your organisation. It shows up in the contradictions that leave you baffled and confused.

The “urgent” meeting to prepare for another meeting. The strategy refresh that quietly cancels the strategy refresh from six months ago. The culture survey about “psychological safety” that nobody feels safe answering. It shows up in the bringing in of major consultancies to tell you things you already know in exquisitely polished slidedecks you can't understand – they look great, they sound sensible, and yet…something doesn’t ring quite true. And then we see it in the latest fads and thought(less) leadership that have you scratching your head while everyone else manically claps along in delight.

You’re wondering…maybe it's me?

It isn’t!

Reimagine Events Invites you to Organisational Absurdity Unveiled, a gathering for individuals that deeply feel the tensions of these realities (and no doubt countless others). We’ll explore why they happen, why so many go along and collude with it, and consider how you might start to play within and around the absurdity in a way that sharpens your voice and makes others notice too. Notice so that maybe, just maybe, you can make things a little less absurd and start to have real, honest conversations that make organisational life better.

Our Sense Makers at Reimagine events invite you into a space to reflect deeply on the nuances of organisational life. To take time out of your busy day to properly explore, without being rushed to the next speaker and topic, as is often the case at conventional events that major on short, sharp, nuggets of easy to digest placebo-like quick fix solutions.

So, if you want a different kind of “conference”, if you want to break free from the circus and come play with ideas that might genuinely reveal the absurdities you see then grab a ticket to Organisational Absurdity Unveiled. We can’t wait for you to join us!

Info: Reimagine events welcome you to join us for breakfast, connect with other attendees and settle in for a day of insight and inspiration.

Info: A short welcome from Reimagine Events Founder Ket Patel. Ket will be joined by one of the team from People's History Museum as they share the history of the building and set the scene for the todays events. Ket will open the conference outlining what to expect from the day before our first Sense Maker comes to help you explore our first topic.

Info: In this interactive opening session, we will explore how everyday contradictions and tensions function as signals, not nuisances. Working with live examples from the room, we will surface recurring patterns, examine the pressures shaping them, and consider how building shared signal awareness can help us orient earlier and more clearly. Rather than rushing to fix what feels broken, this session invites a shift from reaction to recognition, creating steadier ground for honest organisational conversations.

Info: Breaking for lunch, you will get to reflect on what you heard this morning, connect with other delegates and learn about their contexts and where your stories differ and overlap.

Info: We love certainty in organisations. When it cant be grasped, all manner of behaviours show up. It is in the field of organisational change where we often find the most exquisite examples of what happens when we delude ourselves that we have more control over events than we actually do.

And often the challenge is made all the more intense due to the lack of permission and protection to call out when the Emperor is wearing no clothes: the greater absurdity, the sharper the contradictions, the more to lose for those most invested in the delusion.

In this session, Steve Hearsum, author of No Silver Bullet: Bursting the Bubble of the Organisational Quick Fix, will outline how the illusion of control is pervasive, to the nature of organisational absurdity and what, if anything, we can do about it.

What you’ll get: Provocation, discomfort, a few knowing laughs, and some actual alternatives to the illusion. Questions is can you hold your nerve as we move through the unknown.

Info: Reflecting on what our sense makers have shared, what you've learned with your colleagues and considered from other attendees, this is your chance to make one or two commitments to tackle the absurdity within your organisations. Our Sense Makers will be on hand to answer questions and help you shape your plans to confront absurdity.

Info: After the days exploration and planning concludes. Reimagine Events and People's History Museum welcome you to join us from drinks while continuing to debrief with other attendees or taking one of a few private guided private tours of the museum. We are certain that both the conversations and the surroundings will continue to inspire your thinking.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

People's History Museum, Left Bank, Manchester, United Kingdom

Concerts, fests, parties, meetups - all the happenings, one place.

Get App