ABSTRACT
Practitioners, theorists and researchers working in organisational development consultancy are concerned with what makes an effective consultant? Taxonomies and listing competencies, the identification of skills and the framing into domains, is reductionist and does not describe what systems psychodynamics consultants do. Is systems psychodynamics consultancy so mysterious or fleeting that it cannot be named or systematised? Our interest in the unconscious makes our work esoteric. The unconscious by its very nature is unknown, difficult to grasp or see, often metaphorical rather than literal and frequently non-verbal. When the unconscious comes into view, it is experienced as magical and mysterious. Hence, unconscious dynamics in organisational contexts are not easily written into lists. However difficult and imperfect it might be, we must identify the capabilities required for our practice and signal the ways to develop those capabilities. If we avoid a clear articulation of our practice, we risk obfuscation which supports exclusivity and can lead to a closed system which dies.
