Telling it how it really is? : life in organisations revealed using Heideggerian phenomenology

Heideggerian phenomenology is expounded here as a qualitative methodology of value in researching "how things really are" in organisational life. It is a methodology, and a philosophy, which recognises a priori the value ofthe subjective, lived experience of the informant, and the physical, sociological and psychological phenomena that come together to create their life-world. In this paper, the authors present cases where this methodology successfully revealed the respondents' reality. Stories about working in teams and being downsized are shared to demonstrate the ability of Heideggerian phenomenology to reveal how life really is in organisations.