Abstract
Technology has a strong influence on the day-to-day operations of organisations, but the relationship between technology and organisatonal identity is little understood. We approach identity from a narrative perspective, and explore how identity narratives are adapted to accommodate new, disruptive technologies. To capture how these processes unfold in practice, we study the case of the Estonian public sector, and their plans for restructuring the current e-government infrastructure in favour of new solutions powered by artificial intelligence. Combining the analysis of strategy and vision documents with insights from an expert interview and existing literature, we reveal how local myths featuring characters such as the morally ambivalent goblin kratt are used by organisational elites to manage transformational change. Our analysis reveals that when integrated into identity narratives, myths can help organisations navigate change by creating a sense of continuity between past, present, and future, and establishing a balance between familiarity and novelty.