Tavistock approaches
Ways of understanding what groups feel
— but cannot yet say.
The home of systems psychodynamics
Tavistock approaches were developed to answer questions like these
‘Why do our meetings agree things that never happen?’
‘Why does the same conflict keep returning — whoever is in the room?’
‘What is the anxiety in this team really about?’
‘Why did the restructure change everything except how it feels to work here?’
Five Tavistock approaches
Systems Psychodynamics
Group Relations
Socio-Technical Systems
Arts and Organisations
Social Dreaming
Organisations, being made up of groups, are not just rational systems but emotional systems too.
Dr Mannie Sher — Vice Chair, consultant, practitioner and author, Tavistock Institute
Common questions
- What is Tavistock thinking, in relation to organisations?
Organisations and groups are treated as living systems shaped as much by unconscious dynamics, such as projections and transference, as by formal structure or strategy. Meaningful change means working with the whole system, not just its visible parts.
- What are five key Tavistock approaches?
Systems psychodynamics, socio-technical systems theory, group relations, arts and organisations, and social dreaming. Each explores a different facet of the hidden life of groups.
- How do the Tavistock approaches relate to each other?
Systems psychodynamics, socio-technical systems theory, group relations, arts and organisations, and social dreaming are different ways of exploring the life of groups and organisations. The approaches share theoretical frameworks and an emphasis on experiential learning and all start from the same premise, that group behaviour is shaped as much by what is felt and unspoken as by formal structure or strategy.
- Where is the Tavistock approach used?
In organisational consulting, in work on wider societal issues and social change, and in therapeutic contexts, particularly group therapy. It has deeply influenced organisational development, management and leadership studies, psychotherapy, and social psychology.
Where these approaches are put to work
Consultancy
Helping leaders and teams work with the under-the-surface dynamics of organisational life.
Professional Development
Programmes that develop people who work with groups — including the Leicester Conference.
