ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the author discusses a part of ongoing conversations about observer and consultant countertransference and the influence of the inner world upon the outer world in all human interaction. The spirit of playfulness, in contrast with compulsiveness (such as coming up with expertise, with the right answer, with the correct solution), helps the organization lower its shield because the consultant has first taken the risk to do so. The greater access the consultant can have to his or her own unconscious during a consultation, the greater access he or she can foster in the client organization. All workplaces have often recurrent, stylized symptoms that in one way or another express discontent: alcoholism, drug use, chemical dependency, absenteeism, accidents, identical physical complaints by the workforce, large scale resignations, to name but a few. Organizational crisis occurs when one such symptom (or several) surprises and overwhelms the calm routine.
