Collective construction changes organizational reality: An illustration of the relative influence of both consultants and organizations

Presents an analytic case study of a reorganization project in the Swiss federal patent and copyright bureau (BAGE) on an action and a reflection level. The consultants in the BAGE case were acting as systemic catalysts to the self‐organizing processes in the BAGE. Based on a brief introduction to self‐organization theory and to the socio‐technical systems approach, discusses the main aspects of systemic consulting. The case study then illustrates the relative influence of the consultants as mirrors and a source of disturbance to organizational routines and discourse, and of the organization as a self‐organizing system that bears the potential to redesign itself.