Et psykodynamisk blik på levende organisationer

Nothing is accidental. At least not in the lived everyday life of organisations. That is one of the central points of this excellent book, which takes you into the psychodynamic universe and examines the unconscious and often invisible dynamics in workplaces. This matters because we do not always act consciously, let alone in a goal-rational way. The challenge is that we almost always think and act as though that is exactly what we are doing.

The book gives a wonderfully good insight into understanding some of the psychodynamic dynamics and thereby the organisational difficulties that always run alongside everything goal-rational. The book's fundamental question is: when we often know what would be good to do, why do we not do it? And when we often do what is good to do, why does it not quite work as intended?

In the first part of the book you are introduced to the psychodynamic foundation. Next, the focus is on defence mechanisms in organisations (for example projection), anxiety and resistance to change. The third part examines how organisational culture, power and leadership influence employees' behaviour and, finally, the fourth part shows how, as a leader, you can observe, understand and intervene in dysfunctional or stuck patterns.

The book also describes a number of interesting perspectives on understanding change processes in organisations. Not on the basis of a single, unified model of understanding, but precisely as perspectives on it. In this way the overarching perspective is maintained, namely that organisational life is messy - but (almost) nothing is accidental.

A huge recommendation from us for this book.