Systems Psychodynamics of Organizations

Laurence J. Gould PhD was the director of the Socio-Psychoanalytic Training Program, The Institute for Psychoanalytic Training and Research (IPTAR). He was also the founding co-director of the Program in Organizational Development and Consultation in Israel, and a founding member of the International Society for the Psychoanalytic Study of Organizations (ISPSO). Dr Gould was a co-editor of 'The Systems Psychodynamics of Organizations' (Karnac, 2001), and 'Experiential Learning in Organizations' (Karnac, 2004). In addition, he was the founding co-editor of 'Organizational and Social Dynamics'. Dr Gould practised psychoanalysis and organizational consultation in New York City. He passed away in 2010. Lionel Stapley PhD is an organizational consultant and the Director of OPUS (An Organisation for Promoting Understanding of Society) an educational charity that seeks to encourage the study of conscious and unconscious processes in society and institutions within it. He heads up the OPUS Group Processes Program; and is an organisational consultant working in the public and private sectors in the UK and in other countries with individuals, groups and sometimes whole organisations. He has a particular interest in organisational culture and change. He is also a member of the International Society for the Psychoanalytic Study of Organizations, a Chartered Fellow of the Institute of Personnel and Development (CFIPD), and a Chartered Fellow of the Institute of Management (FCIM). Mark Stein BA, MPhil, MSc, PhD, is a Programme Director of the Professional Management Programmes at the University of Reading, a visiting tutor at the Tavistock Clinic and an associate of OPUS. Previously he has held posts at the London School of Economics, The Tavistock Institute, the South Bank University and Brunel University.

• Introduction -- Applying Learning from Experience: The Intersection of Psychoanalysis and Organizational Role Consultation -- The Exercise of Authority in a Dependent Context -- An Organization Looks at Itself: Psychoanalytic and Group Relations Perspectives on Facilitating Organizational Transition -- Complexity at the “Edge” of the Basic-Assumption Group -- Enemies Within and Without: Paranoia and Regression in Groups and Organizations -- Dilemmas of Organizational Change: A Systems Psychodynamic Perspective -- A Large-System Intervention: The Influence of Organisational Culture -- Institutional Learning as Chief Executive -- The Leader, the Unconscious, and the Management of the Organisation

'This is a stimulating and thought-provoking volume that is sure to further develop clearer insights about organizations and change. The Introduction and nine chapters offer well-structured and accessible explorations of some key aspects of psychodynamic and systems thinking, together with ideas from group relations work, to illuminate typical challenges facing organizations. The mixture of conceptual writing and case material should prove interesting to readers from a range of outlooks, disciplines, and levels of experience. Topics addressed include: leadership, conflict, dependence and dependency, enablers and obstacles of change, and culture. Attention to these relevant dimensions of organizational work should lead to deeper knowledge of what may help and hinder organizations to develop and to change.'- Ruth Levitt, Office for Public Management, London