consensus as control?

April 17, 2006

We’ve spent about 4 hours talking about chairs. Moving them, not moving them, what they “symbolise”, who’s not sitting in one, who is sitting in the middle of the group, who’s sitting on the outside of the group. Were anyone to walk into the middle of these conversations I’m convinced…

lost in translation

April 17, 2006

There are over 80 participants at this conference, complemented by a team of ten “staff”. All are drawn from the four corners of the earth. I’ve met people from France, the United States, Peru, India and every place in between. The working languages of the conference are English and French…

group relating

April 17, 2006

There is a certain irony in arriving at a conference that is ostensibly about transform-action on a day when the French have decided to stage a day of non-action. But such are the things that these kinds of experiences are made of. I made it to my hotel with 5…

Group Relations in Paris

April 17, 2006

Tomorrow morning I head for Paris where I’m participating in my first Group Relations Conference. It’s not a traditional conference where papers are presented, workshops convened etc. Group Relations conferences are about the study of behaviour in organisations. To that end managers, consultants, students and psychotherapists from all over the…