Mapping of an Idiosyncratic Schema*

ABSTRACT Among researchers interested in organizations and management, some of those who use cognitive mapping share a common objective: to improve organizational action. Some intervene directly at the level of the organization while others prefer to achieve this indirectly, by working at the individual level. Nevertheless those who work at the individual level rely on the ‘emancipatory’properties of a cognitive map, which facilitates reflectiveness. After calling upon the notions of natural logic, schematization, contextuality, representation, knowledge and schema to characterize the cognitive map and its construction, we present a case, that of the idiosyncratic map of the owner‐manager of a small business. We describe the mode of construction of the map and its content. A critical discussion follows underlining the traps to avoid, the elements to be improved and those that should be kept for construction of future idiosyncratic maps.