27: Psychoanalysis and Organisations with David Armstrong

David Armstrong is a thought leader and inspiration to many
working in the field of psychoanalysis and organisations. In this
podcast David shares his experiences of working with pioneers in
the field after joining the Tavistock Institute in 1959. David
describes how alive the Tavistock project was in its early
days.  Innovations coming from the Tavistock Clinic through
infant observation, attachment theory and the work of
Menzies-Lythe and Ronnie Laing among many others. And from the
Tavistock Institute through Eric Miller, Eric Trist and A.K. Rice
and colleagues. David shares his experience of attending Wilfred
Bion’s study group and how he became engaged in psychoanalytic
work led by the Tavistock Clinic.  He shares how the work in
the Institute had a radical and political edge. 
‘Democratising the workplace’ was and is, one of David’s
inspirations in this field, and remains vital today.   David
discusses the question, ‘what is a psychoanalytic approach to
organisations’, and highlights the importance of the
action-research approach, which he feels has become marginalised,
as a drift towards external consultancy now dominates the
psychoanalytic-systems approach.  David discusses the mutual
interaction between the external and internal world as key to his
work, and how there has been a shift from working with the
Organisation-in-the-mind, to Networks-in-the-mind.  In this
wide-ranging discussion, David shares his interest in how
religious dissenting traditions such as Methodism also influenced
the psychoanalytic-organisational field, bringing social change
and the group to the fore.   



Bio David Armstrong 


David studied philosophy at Oxford University then trained as a
psychologist in Cambridge University and has worked in action
research and organisational consultancy for over 60 years. He
joined the Tavistock Institute working alongside some of the
pioneers in the field.  David went on to work in the Grubb
Institute and Tavistock Consultancy Service.  David has
worked in this field with senior executives and executive teams
in business, government, health and education in the UK and
worldwide.  His experience includes working with executives
in pharmaceuticals, investment banking, NHS trusts, local
government, higher education, prison governors and for senior
civil servants. He is a leading thinker in the domain of
psychoanalysis and organisations, bringing insights and sharing
experiences that have inspired the wider field.   David is a
distinguished member of ISPSO. David is author of
Organization in the Mind: Psychoanalysis,Group Relations
and Organizational Consultancy, edited
by Robert French.