ABSTRACT
Central to group relations thinking, group analysis, psychodynamics and group psychology overall are two key assumptions that, in my opinion, are, if not entirely wrong then too inaccurate to be considered right. The first assumption is that the ‘group’ or ‘system’ is a representation of ‘the social’ sphere and can be seen as a sort of biopsy of society. If you have seven or eight people sitting in a circle, society’s main dynamics are presumed to be represented in the group. The second assumption is that any organization is a type of group where, regardless of the type of organization – from an ice cream shop to a shipping company, from a government ministry to a nursing home, from a political party to a trade union, from an angling club to a motorcycle club – the same set of group dynamics plays out. These two assumptions reflect a progressive trend during the 20th century that highlighted the social sphere as superior and the opposite to the individual.
