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In introducing the theme of this book, the author writes:
This book deals with open and hidden family dynamics in organisations—a topic in organisational psychology. Through theory and examples the book demonstrates how an understanding informed by family dynamics can often explain phenomenon in organisations that may at first glance seem strange or meaningless and which are a drain on the organisations time and energy. (p. 1)
The development of these family dynamics includes not just two-level relations between parents and children and the triangular rivalries and loyalties psychoanalysis has come to study through the Oedipus complex. It also includes what is described as the promoted sibling and then points to the relevance of this dynamic for understanding some of the transferences encountered in the workplace. As he puts it:
With the promoted sibling we now have a three-tiered family hierarchy with father and mother at the top, the promoted sibling in the middle and the remaining sibling group at the bottom.
When the parents authorize a member of the sibling group to take on a leadership role or act as a temporary parent, for example if the parents are going away for the weekend, that will trigger jealousy and envy among the other children. (p. 16)
He goes on to explore the differences between authority bestowed from above with authority bestowed from below, which is a key theme of the book. It also discriminates between the law of the father that forbids regression and promotes equal treatment from the law of the mother whose love is different for each child who touches her in different ways. These paradigms become the source of serious investigation across the range of organisational, cultural, and political explorations.
This book is solidly built around the evidence and theorising of others and one part of its originality is to have assembled such a range of ideas and authorities on which our ideas are built. For the reader, the experience is not just one of hav