The Art of Group Analysis in Organisations

Book excerpt: Leaders, teams and organisational consultants are faced with a situation of permanent transitions. The current world of organisations is full of beginnings and incomplete endings. The author assumes that the endless re-structuring of living networks of relationships in organisations generates, over time, post-traumatic stress disorder in individuals, groups and the whole system. The book deals with the paradox that continuity is the most important factor in change and that leadership alone solves very little. Even the most heroic figure flounders without the help of the various groups in the organisation, which make things work. The author reflects on his practice of developing teams, professionals and organisations with an approach rooted in group analysis and social anthropology. The dominant way of looking at performance, motivation and leadership focuses on individuals and fails to take into account how we work together, how we fail to co-operate and how inter-dependent we are.