Tavistock approaches
Ways of understanding what groups feel
— but cannot yet say.
Questions people bring to us
‘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?’
The Tavistock approaches were developed for questions like these
Group Relations
Socio-Technical Systems
Arts and organisations
Social dreaming
Systems psychodynamics
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
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 the Tavistock approach to organisations?
It treats organisations and groups 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 the five 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.