The Canonization of the Dead and Starvation of the Living: The Collective Consumption of Maverick Narratives and Temporal Duplicity in Modern Organizations

Abstract

Modern organizations obsessively celebrate historical icons of defiance and intellectual courage. Figures such asNiccolò Machiavelli and Galileo Galilei—once vilified as dangerous deviants by their contemporary establishments—are posthumously canonized in management literature as exemplars of strategic brilliance. However, a stark paradoxemerges within contemporary institutions: while organizations enthusiastically consume the sanitized narratives ofdeceased pioneers ("Canonization of the Dead"), they systematically marginalize, silence, and ostracize present-daycontrarians who challenge existing paradigms ("Starvation of the Living"). This paper conceptualizes this systemichypocrisy through the framework of Temporal Duplicity. We argue that the collective veneration of historicalmavericks does not foster an environment for authentic innovation; instead, it functions as a mechanism ofpsychological absolution and moral credentialing. By revering a domesticated hero who no longer threatens theexisting power structure, organization members obtain cheap moral capital that obscures internal defensivemechanisms. This working paper outlines the theoretical foundations, socio-psychological mechanisms, and structuralimplications of temporal duplicity, proposing a novel conceptual lens for organizational ethics and innovation studies.