ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews a Tavistock approach from a complexity perspective. The central systemic concept in a Tavistock approach is that of the open system, while the central systemic concept in the complexity perspective is that of nonlinear dynamics, already referred to. The chapter discusses how a nonlinear dynamic perspective might also have implications for the kind of psychoanalytic constructs one employs. It examines how different views on interaction might lead to different practices as a consultant. A complexity perspective puts a different emphasis on the consultant's role and activity. It tends to de-emphasize interpretation and ascribe much more importance to the quality of personal relationships. For E. R. Shapiro and W. A. Carr the consultant uses counter-transference feelings to formulate hypotheses about the transferential and projective processes at work in an organization, and about the impact of basic-assumption behaviour on the work of that organization.
