Organizations as Psychic Prisons

1
Organizations as Psychic Prisons

• Gareth Morgan

2
Platos allegory of the cave

• How does Morgan relate Platos allegory of the
  cave to constructions of reality within
  organizations? How does he relate it to change
  resistance within organizations?

3
Favoured ways of Thinking

• Explain what is meant by Morgans statement
• Powerful visions of the future can lead to
  blind spots. Ways of seeing become ways of not
  seeing.

4
Freudian Reading of Taylor

• Morgan argues that Fredrick Taylors controlling
  personality can be read through Freuds theory of
  repressed sexuality in that Taylor had an
  anal-compulsive approach to life.
• Explain Morgans argument.

5
What are some of the mentioned Freudian defence
mechanisms?
6
How does Morgan answer the following questions?
How would you?

• To what extent do modes of organization
  institutionalize defence mechanisms?
• Do tightly controlled bureaucratic forms reflect
  the influence of compulsive preoccupations?
• Do they attract and reward people who share
  characteristics?
• To what extent is it possible to understand
  organization as an external reflection of
  unconscious strivings?

7
The Patriarchal Family

• Morgan argues that a patriarchal view of
  organization is easy to see. How does he defend
  his argument?
• Do you agree with Morgan?

8
Death and Immortality

• How does Ernst Becker make use of Freuds defence
  mechanisms in relation to ones mortality?

9
Anxiety

• How is Melanie Kleins work related to Freud?
• How does Morgan tie Melanie Kleins theory of
  human development into organizational cultures?

10
Organization, Dolls, and Teddy Bears

• How does Morgan describe Donald Winnicotts term
  transitional object?
• How is transitional theory useful when looking at
  organizations?

11
Carl Jung

• How does Morgan describe Jungs work on general
  relations between the internal and external life?
• How does Morgan describe Jungs work on the role
  that archetypes play in shaping our
  understandings of the external world?
• How is Jungs work useful when looking at
  organizations?

12
Critical Analysis

• What are the strengths and weaknesses of the
  psychic prison metaphor?