The metaphor of the carnival can help point to at least two aspects of organizational life that get suppressed by the other metaphors. At carnival time normal order is suspended and creativity, diversity and ambivalence are encouraged. This helps us to see the fragility of the social order that is sus- tained in organizations and to recognize as well the presence of other voices and other aspects that are usually suppressed or marginalized. Carnivals are also meant to be light and bright, and to be places where people have fun. There is much in organizations too that can be explained if we pay attention to playfulness, sex, irony, etc. Critics, of course, would see the overemphasis placed by the carnival metaphor on the ‘irrational’ aspects of organizational life as trivializing. Organizations are important social institutions and the well-being of all of us depends on them functioning well.