Applying a wide-angle lens: De-centering work organizations in organization studies

Much of organizational scholarship to date has rested on the assumption that the organizations at which individuals work are centerpieces of their experiences. In this essay, we argue for a shift in perspective—namely, the de-centering of work organizations. We develop the lens of organizations as enablers of life and elaborate ways in which this perspective shift may appropriately re-orient organizational scholarship to account for a wider range of experiences at work in order to move our field forward.