Relational Organizational Development

Abstract

Eric Berne’s distinct theory about the structure and dynamics of organizations and groups is developed further. Illustrated by examples, the potential consequences of weak cohesion or lack of leadership are conceptualized. The concepts of imago alignment and collective imago are introduced, and their importance for leadership and organizational development are considered. Organizational development is understood as the development of the abilities of an organization’s members to relate, cocreate, and cooperate toward a shared purpose. As such, and based on relational thinking, leadership is no longer seen as the property of the leader but rather as a function of the whole group or organization. This leads to a reverse understanding of organizational development: Instead of changing structure in the hope that individual behavior will adapt to it, relational organizational development suggests working on the way people relate and assuming a supportive structure will emerge.

Keywords:

• Groups
• organizations
• leadership
• relational organizational development
• cocreativity
• collective imago
• imago alignment
• group-as-a-whole
• organization-in-the-mind
• transactional analysis

Disclosure Statement

The author declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Michael Korpiun

Michael Korpiun is an economist (Dr. rer. pol., Dipl.-Oec.), organizational development consultant, Teaching and Supervising Transactional Analyst (O), Master Coach (EASC), Supervisor (EASC), Trainer (EASC), author, and the editor of In Relation Publications for personal, team, and organizational development. He is also the cofounder and managing partner of In Stability, a relational organizational consultancy and academy based in Hanover (Germany). Prior to that, Michael was a senior executive in the automotive industry, an empirical researcher with Procter & Gamble, and a scientific lecturer at Hanover University. Michael can be contacted at Osterstrasse 42, D-30159 Hannover, Germany; email: [email protected]; website: www.in-stability.de.