The Business Case For Organisational Psychotherapy
I’m 99% certain that 99% of the people I meet have 99% of no idea what an organisational psychotherapist does, and moreover, the value that such a skill-set can bring to knowledge-work organisations.
In an attempt to clarify my value proposition in my own head, so as I might just be able to explain it a little better to those few folks who are kind enough – or interested enough – to ask, I’m writing this post.
The Ten Second Version
Organisational Psychotherapy focuses on:
Shifting the collective mindset of the organisation
Improving the organisation’s health
Improving the collective cognitive function of the organisation
Shifting Collective Mindset
The collective, organisational mindset is absolutely key to the effectiveness of knowledge-work organisations of every kind, everywhere. Who better, then, to work on shifting an organisation’s collective mindset than folks who understand organisational psychotherapy?
Note: In my work with Rightshifting and the Marshall Model I explain why mindset is the key to effectiveness – and the challenges involved in making the necessary shifts.
It follows, then that to shift an organisation to the right, to make a business significantly more effective, involves effecting major change in the collective mindset of that organisation/business. Who has the skills, experience and training to do this? Organisational psychotherapists.
Organisational Health
In addition to shifting collective mindset, and in some ways related, organisational psychotherapy delivers improved organisational health.
Patrick Lencioni writes in his book “The Advantage”:
“The single greatest advantage any company can achieve is organizational health. Yet it is ignored by most leaders even though it is simple, free, and available to anyone who wants it.”
What is a healthy organisation?