ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the aspect of internal consulting by examining how internals can understand and work with power dynamics in organizations. On reflection, it was trying to balance a distinctive identity as a practitioner while being accepted as an 'insider' who had access to formal and informal networks. To take up their role, internals are challenged to maintain a marginal position which requires them to operate at the edge and on the boundary of the organization. Power is formed by the tacit and taken-for-granted basis of the social order which becomes legitimized through the use of symbols, language, rituals and normative assumptions. Power is enacted through social discourse whereby different actors position themselves in relation to others according to their status and identity. Its reflections are based on my personal experiences of power dynamics in the client system and interview material and discussions with people in the organization at the time of the work.
