Psychoanalytic diagnosis of top management team dysfunction

Abstract

This article presents a psychoanalytically informed diagnosis of top management team (TMT) dysfunction during TMT training in a public sector organization. Outdoor management development exercises and the psychodynamics of family groups increased the psychological depth of a training intervention, eliciting dysfunctional behavior and facilitating diagnosis based on Bion’s theory of groups. Dysfunctional basic assumption behavior prohibited the group from effectively accomplishing the task of the work group. Implications for trainers and consultants are discussed.