BMA eBook - Manual / Resource - Page 58
Intervention and Leadership
in focus and finally that recognises the need to surface the fundamental conflicts in
issues rather than treating problems as if they are benign. As Figure 1 suggests the
human elements of group life are embedded in the systemic patterns that develop
in organizations and communities and give rise to the political dimensions that
emerge whenever people try to achieve their goals but have a different
understanding about what they are and how they should be achieved.
Observations and interpretations that ignore the conflictual and political nature of
groups in action are less likely to get to the core of the adaptive work needed for
progress. Therefore, helping managers learn a different set of observational and
interpretative skills, while difficult, is important.
2
See Heifetz Grashow and Linsky (2009)
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Not to be reproduced without the author’s permission
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