Organization as a Psychic prison

Presented byGul Sanga Khan

Paradigms in organizing theory

Radical humanistparadigm

Radical structuralistparadigm

Interpretiveparadigm

Functionalistparadigm

Objective

Sociology ofRegulation

Sociology ofRadical actions

Subjective

Adapted from Burrell & Morgan (1979)

Metaphors in organizing•Machine•Organism•Brain•Culture•Political system•Psychic prison•Domination instrument

From: Images of organization by Gareth Morgan (1986, 1997)

Radical humanistparadigm

Radical structuralistparadigm

Interpretiveparadigm

Functionalistparadigm

Psychic Prison

Sociology ofRadical actions

Subjective Objective

Sociology ofRegulation

Instrument of domination

Culture

Machine

Organisms

Political System

Adapted from Burrell & Morgan (1979) and Morgan (1983)

Psychic Prisons..“Human beings have a knack for getting

trapped in webs of their own creation.”This metaphor joins the idea that

organization are psychic phenomena,in the sense that they are ultimately created and sustained by conscious and unconscious processes,with the notion that people can actually become imprisoned or confined by the images,ideas,thoughts and actions to which these processes give rise.

Organization and Unconscious!!!Sigmund Freud,argued that the

unconscious is created as humans repress their inner-most desires and

private thoughts.

The essence of society being the repression of the individual, and about the essence of

the individual as being the repression of him/herself.

Psychic Prisons..1. Are dysfunctional myths and stories that

control fear and anxiety. Thus, with each psychic prison ask yourself two questions:

A) what is the dysfunctional story/myth?B) How does the story/myth control fear and

anxiety.

Types of Psychic Prisons:Organization and Repressed SexualityWhen leaders and workers have strong

desires to control and become disciplined in every aspect of life. Taylor is exemplified by this Psychic Prison.

Dysfunctional story: social order to maintained through discipline and control.

How does story control fear? Tight supervision so there are no surprises.

Obj

Action

Subj

Regulate

Organization as psychic prison

Defense mechanisms:•Repression:”pushing down”unwanted impulses and ideas•Denial:refusal to acknowledge an impulse-evoking fact,feeling or memory•Displacement:shifting impulses aroused by one person or situation to a safer target•Fixation:rigid commitment to a particular attitude or behavior•Projection:attribution of one’s own feelings and impulses to others•Rationalization:creation of elaborate schemes of justification that disguise underlying motives and intentions•Idealization:playing up the good aspects of a situation to protect oneself from the bad•Splitting:isolating different elements of experience,often to protect the good from the bad.

Types of Psychic Prisons:Patriarchal/Racist Family It’s a conceptual prison, producing and reproducing

organizational structure that gives dominance to male.Plantation culture in which white males rule the field and

know best which decisions to make. Competition, domination and no emotions are the rule of the game.

Dysfunctional story: White men are more effective leaders.How does story control fear? We only keep white men on

top echelon when hiring and blame white women and people of color for anything problematic that occurs. White men get their job because of "effort” but everyone else get jobs because of race/gender.

Patriarchal FamilyThe relationship b/w gender and organization,the dominant

influence of the male in the hierarchal relations found in the patriarchal family.

In many organization one person defers to the authority of another exactly as the child defers to parental rule.The prolonged dependency of the child upon the parents facilitates the kind of dependency institutionalized in the relationship b/w leaders and followers,and in the practice where people look to others to initiate action in response to problematic issues.

Key organizational members also often cultivate fatherly roles by acting as mentors to those in need of help and protection.

The psychic prison structure of the male-dominated family tends to create a feelings of impotence accompanied by a fear of and dependence on authority.

Types of Psychic Prisons:Death and ImmortalityHumans are afraid of dying. Death

reminds us of our limitations and lack of control. We try to connect with something more enduring than our physical bodies.

Dysfunctional story : We won’t die if we are attached to something more enduring than ourselves.

How does the story control fear? When people believe they will endure, they are more likely to obey authority.

Death and Immortality..In creating organization we create structures of

activity that are larger than life and that often survive for generations.we ourselves find meaning and permanence.As we invest ourselves in our work,our roles become our realities.

The relationship b/w immortality and organization,we realize that in attempting to manage and organize our world we are really attempting to manage and ourselves.

Many of our most basic conceptions of organization hinge on the idea of making the complex simple.In much of science and in everyday life we manage our world by simplifying it,because in making it simple we make it amenable to control.

Types of Psychic Prisons:Organization and AnxietyWe fear good versus evil. Evil wishes to

destroy us and we must survive it. To cope with anxiety:

a) we depend on leader to control us b) God will save us c) we make enemies even when there aren’t

any.

Dysfunctional story : World can be divided into good versus evil

How does the story reduce fear? It draws the worker into the good/fear dichotomy and allows leaders to do what they want without protest

Types of Psychic Prisons:Organization, Dolls and Teddy BearsBecause people fear change, we hold onto

objects even when such objects create harm. Transitional objects give people something else to hold onto while change occurs.

Dysfunctional story : Change is bad!How does story control fear? If everything

stays the same, we will not get harmed.

Organization, Dolls and Teddy Bears..As children,most of us had a favorite soft

toy,piece of clothing,or other special object on which we lavished attention and from which we were virtually inseparable.In effect these objects provide a bridge b/w the child’s internal and external world.If the favored object or phenomenon is modified(e;g;,Teddy is washed or clean),then the children may feel that his/her own existence is being threatened is some way.

Organization, Dolls and Teddy Bears Just as a child may rely on the presence of his/her doll or

teddy bear as means of reaffirming who and where they are,managers and workers may rely on equivalent phenomena for defining their sense of identity.When these phenomena are challenged,basic identities are challenged.

The fear of loss which entails thus often generates a reaction that may be out of all proportion to the importance of the issues when viewed from a more detached point of view.This unconscious dynamic may help to explain why some organizations have been unable to cope with the changing demands of their environment,and why there is often so much unconscious resistance to change in organizations.

Strengths and Weaknesses of the PP Metaphor Helps us understand the unconscious and why people are

resistant to change. Though sometimes we forget that workplace are actual prisons. The PP Metaphor present a set of perspectives for exploring the

hidden meaning of our taken-for-granted worlds.The metaphor encourages us to dig below the surface to uncover the unconscious processes and related patterns of control that trap people in unsatisfactory modes of existence.

The Metaphor also shows us that we have over rationalized our understanding of organization.Both in our behavior in organizations and in our explanations of organizations,factors such as aggression ,greed,fear,hate and sexual desire have no official status.And when they do break into open,they r usually quickly banished through apologies,rationalizations and punishments designed to restore a more neutered state of affairs.

Strengths and Weaknesses of the PP Metaphor..The metaphor also draws specific attention to the ethical

basis of organization by reinforcing the view that organization is human in the fullest sense.

The metaphor identifies many of the barriers standing in the path of innovation and change.

This was all about my Presentation.

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