Unconscious Influences in Coaching Practice: Exploring Organisational Culture

1. Sandra Wilson MProf; TSTA (O); Master Certified Coach Doctorate in Professional Studies Research Project Surfacing the organisation-in-the-mind www.icbcoaching.com

2. Background & Context • Evolution of coaching as a development intervention • The maturing arena of coaching – the rise of the internal coach www.icbcoaching.com

3. Background & Context • Personal perspectives and values • Social constructivism • Psychodynamic models • “Organisation-in-the-mind • Organisational and professional context • Professional coaching in the public sector • Managing the boundaries • Practitioner-researcher and expert consultant www.icbcoaching.com

4. Theoretical Underpinnings • The organisation-in-the-mind (Tavistock Institute) • The structure and dynamics of organisations and groups (Berne) • The psychological contract (Berne) www.icbcoaching.com

5. The Organisation-in-the-Mind • The organisation-in-the-mind - “lingua franca of the Grubb Institute • Basically – ways in which we can understand the behaviour of group members • Reflecting and being governed by unconscious assumptions, images and fantasies held about the organisation www.icbcoaching.com

6. The Organisation-in-the-Mind • “Any organisation is composed of diverse fantasies and projections of its members. Everyone who is aware of an organisation, whether a member or not, has a mental image of how it works. Though these diverse ideas are not often consciously negotiated or agreed upon among participants, they exist. In this sense all institutions exist in the mind, and it is in interaction with these in-the-mind entities that we live” . • (Shapiro & Carr -1991) www.icbcoaching.com

7. The Structure & Dynamics of Organisations and Groups Public structure Private structure What we can see Informs our decision “Imago” – the mental picture we hold in our own head about how the system is or should be www.icbcoaching.com

8. Psychological Contract • The underlying dynamics between the parties to the contract. Generally unspoken and outside the conscious awareness of the parties to the contract. • The outcome of the contract is determined at the psychological level (Berne) www.icbcoaching.com

9. Linking Public & Private Structure to Contracting • Public structure • Procedural • Professional • Private Structure • Psychological – determines the effectiveness of the work www.icbcoaching.com

10. Aims, Objectives and Outcomes • Aim of the project • To ascertain whether coaches are influenced in their professional practice at the unconscious level by the culture of the organisation as they experience it • The extent to which this impacts on the contract • Difference between external and internal coaches www.icbcoaching.com

11. Aims, Objectives and Outcomes (2) • Objectives - Multi-faceted • Primary objective • Heighten awareness of, and sensitivity to, unconscious processes and their impact on the work undertaken • Secondary objective • To ascertain the extent to which organisational, social, relational and psychodynamic influences coalesce to effect individual change www.icbcoaching.com

12. Aims, Objectives and Outcomes (3) • Third objective • To determine similarities and differences in the “inner world” of coaches in relation to how they perceive organisational culture • Finally • To reflect on the research findings and consider ways in which they might inform the on-going professional development of the coaching community www.icbcoaching.com

13. Aims, Objectives and Outcomes (4) • Potential impact of the project • On my learning • On the learning of my partners • On the participants • On the professional community www.icbcoaching.com

14. Project Design and Methodologies • Personal perspectives, epistemology and ontology – closely woven together • Researcher’s perspective • Marriage of “organisation-in-the-mind and TA contracting • Social constructivism • TA theory of personality • Systems theory and the psychoanalysis of organisations www.icbcoaching.com

15. Project Design and Methodologies • Ontology • “What does it mean to be human?” – within the context of coaching • Focus on generating learning about the human process • in the context of the professional role as a coach • Investigation of the key domains of human existence – how they shape everyday actions and interactions • Ontological learning from this research • Means for recreating ourselves (individually & collectively) • Influence of my inner world (ontological neutrality) www.icbcoaching.com

16. Methodological Approach • Qualitative study based on critical ethnography • Discovery of systems of meaning within the community being researched • Report – in the form of a story or stories • Enter the world of the research subjects – understand how they interpret the world and rationalise decisions in the context of the coaching contract • Interpretive enquiry www.icbcoaching.com

17. Research Methodology • Interpretative phenomenological analysis • Understanding personal lived experience (and relatedness to or involvement in, a particular event or process • Development of an analytic interpretation of participants’ accounts • Prompted by & grounded in these accounts but beyond their own sense making and conceptualisations www.icbcoaching.com

18. Research Methodology • Semi-structured interview • Symbolic representation of the relationship • Indirect observation and analysis (related to symbolic representation) www.icbcoaching.com

19. Ethical Considerations • Overview of ethical considerations • Exposing hidden social processes • Multiple participants • Framework for selecting data • Balancing anonymity with authenticity • Arising out of this research • Over-identification with the theoretical framework • Mutual consent • Psychological contract (parallel process) • Exposing cultural issues www.icbcoaching.com

20. Research Status • Data collection complete • Data analysis under way and on-going • First draft of thesis – March 2013 www.icbcoaching.com