The authors examine the role of the consultant in assisting leaders to understand change from a dynamic systems perspective and to manage that change strategically. The case examples they present emphasize the need for consultants to connect the internal psychological landscapes of executives. managers, and employees with their external manifestations during times of organizational transformation, while remaining attuned to the impact of these issues on the consultant's own lives and work.
Unique resource detailing the day-to-day activity of doctors who work on “the coal face” of psychiatry in an acute setting Dynamic Consultations With Psychiatrists is the outcome of a collaboration between the psychiatrists of a certain hospital and the author, which has continued successfully for more than ten years, containing a number of patient consultations and cases where psychiatry was used successfully to solve a patient’s problem. The presentation of each case, and particularly of the consultation, is meant to demonstrate the process by which insights were gained. Each consultation is written in plain English with the deliberate avoidance of terminology and especially psychoanalytic jargon. Naturally, all identified features of the patients have been deleted or changed so that the patients’ privacy is not compromised. The format is near to a transcript so that the work demonstrates how the understanding evolves and emerges from the process. The structure of the book is not according to a diagnosis but according to “presenting problem” (in other words, the most prominent feature), allowing for easy and efficient accessibility. Sample concepts and learning resources covered and included in Dynamic Consultations With Psychiatrists are as follows: How a doctor is faced with a patient who is suffering in their own particular way and how the clinician gets to develop a deeper understanding of their predicament Difficulties the “coal face” doctors encounter and the challenges they will face in their personal emotional wellbeing Relationships with the other professionals both within their hospital and other agencies Curtailed histories so that there is a seamless exposition of how the conclusions of the consultation have been reached Psychiatrists, psychotherapists, and students/instructors in related programs of study can use Dynamic Consultations With Psychiatrists to gain valuable insight into the thought process of practicing psychiatrists in relation to a myriad of patient problems, allowing them to learn vicariously and become better at dealing with their own patients’ problems.
Outlines methodologies for diagnosing and dealing with the "hidden" or covert factors that can subtly sabotage even the most meticulously planned change processes.
In The Tavistock Learning Group: Exploration Outside the Traditional Frame, the authors attempt to expand the heuristic, theoretical, and applied dimensions of Group Relations paradigms by pairing classical Group Relations concepts with typically non-Tavistock psychology paradigms and social sciences concepts. Under the broad domain of psychologically-informed constructs, Lacanian psychoanalysis, existential philosophy and bioenergetics are applied. Under a somewhat broader range of social science conceptualization, the capacity for abstraction is linked with anti-work in groups, the large group is re-imagined as an extension of community dynamics and dysfunction, and the role of symbol systems, symbology and semiotics are examined in relation to sophisticated work groups. Lastly, non-Tavistock models of group development and conceptualization are re-interpreted and explained using a group-as-a-whole framework.
This book focuses on the hallmark or approaches of the Tavistock Institute—combining research in the social sciences with professional practice in organisational and social change. It shows how consultant and client system are partners in the process of organisational analysis and design.
This text explores the experiences of tempered radicals. These are people who want to become valued and successful members of their organisations without selling out on who they are and what they believe in.
Organizational change is often insider-led and supported by internal consultants and change agents. Most of what is written about change comes from the perspective of external consultants or from academics researching the activities of those with insider change roles. Changing Organizations from Within is unusual in providing a range of authentic insider accounts. The editors define 'insiders' as employees who lead and support change efforts within their own organizations, and those psychoanalytically aware external consultants - external 'insiders' - who work closely with organizations and use the dynamics of transference and projection in their relationships with clients to illuminate organizational issues. Each chapter is written by an author with experience of different kinds of insider relationships with their client organizations. Some work 'inside' as employees. Some are external consultants whose work involves developing insightful insider perspectives. The book’s editors and several of the authors are graduates, or have been faculty members, of London's Tavistock Institute Advanced Organizational Consultation programme, with experience of running development programmes for consultants and of coaching insiders. Changing Organizations from Within examines the pulls on role and identity that can easily undermine competence and practice. Understanding the system psycho-dynamics present in organizations helps consultants and change agents to make use of an insider perspective without becoming enmeshed in the client organization's regressive and inertial dynamics. The authors provide practical advice to help insiders navigate organizational space, make sense of tricky situations, and work more mindfully to help organizations change.
The 4th Industrial Revolution is well underway. Our lives are changing at an exponential rate, resulting in a multi-faceted, deeply interconnected world. The digital revolution is integrating multiple technologies, which is leading to unprecedented paradigm shifts in the economy, management, and society. Entire systems across countries, industries, and societies are being transformed, triggering a transformation that is unlike anything humankind has ever experienced. Given the confluence of dramatic changes in organizational life, triggering emerging technology breakthroughs such as robotics, the internet of things, biotechnology, materials science, data science and big data, and quantum computing, this volume of the Research in Management Consulting series explores how the research and practice of management consulting is unfolding in a new era of profound shifts in the way researchers and consultants sense, think, and act. The authors of this volume bring both to scholars and practitioners the latest discussions of efforts to understand consulting in organizations amplified by the fusion of technologies across physical, digital, and biological worlds. They also bring to light a movement from human supervised artificial intelligence systems to fully autonomous artificial intelligence systems that have the potential to demonstrate intelligence beyond uman capabilities.
Volume One in this series focuses on current trends in the management consulting industry. It is divided into three sections: (1) a look at some of the broad changes taking place in the management consulting industry, (2) an examination of recent trends and techniques in the practice of management consulting, and (3) reflections on the current state of affairs in the industry. As this brief overview has hopefully captured, the first volume in this series provides ample insight into and differing perspectives on the multi-faceted world of management consulting. Thanks are due to all the authors for their thoughtful work, good-natured colleagueship, and willingness to contribute their thoughts and insights about the consulting field. This volume would not have been possible without their efforts.
