PREFACE xxiTHE CLINICAL PARADIGM
I see my contribution as a very modest one. Hasn ’ t it been said that we
all stand on the shoulders of giants? I see myself as a bridge builder,
closing the gap between various disciplines. When I was studying organ-
izational behavior, I thought that too much attention was being given
to structures and systems and not enough to the person — the Harvard
Business School was certainly oriented toward that trend. I wanted to
bring the person back into the organization. It ’ s my experience that by
using the clinical paradigm people have an extra level of magnifi cation
through which to look at organizational phenomena. It ’ s not that other
approaches are wrong; but I maintain that people who have a modicum
of clinical understanding are generally more astute at interpreting what,
at times, can be extremely puzzling phenomena. Out - of - awareness
behavior plays an important role in human encounters. Thus using
yourself as an instrument can be highly effective. In addition, under-
standing what drives people helps us understand personality problems
better, realize what certain symptoms signify, make sense of interper-
sonal diffi culties, and see through group phenomena and social defenses.
A holistic approach to the study of people is needed if we really want
to understand people phenomena better.
While stating the importance of the clinical paradigm in organi-
zational work, I like to emphasize that, despite my psychoanalytic
training, in my interventions I ’ m very far from being a classical psy-
choanalyst. I do whatever works. I want to help people — probably part
of the infl uence of my maternal grandfather, who went out of his way
to help people during World War II. And probably as a result of being
born during that war, I have always been extremely wary of ideological
movements in general, and in the social sciences in particular. In my
work, I also draw on cognitive theory, family systems theory, group
dynamics, motivational interviewing, neuropsychiatry, and develop-
mental psychology.
An increasing number of people realize that a purely rational
model of looking at organizations is unrealistic. While I am myself
most comfortable using the clinical paradigm as a springboard, I don ’ t
argue for its pre - eminence compared with other forms of interven-
tion. But I do recommend that all agents of change supplement behav-
ioral or humanistic models of the mind with clinical conceptualizations
about intrapsychic and interpersonal issues, like people ’ s underlying
motivational needs, their unconscious processes, defense mechanisms,
social defenses, resistance, transferential processes, and the role of
character.