Clarify – Shadows

All diagnostic processes will fail unless they unearth some of the deeper, shadow organisational issues. This opens up four separate areas for consideration: the surface and shadow individual; and the surface and shadow organisation:

These shadow aspects are driven by the operation of an unspoken understanding between the individual and the organisation. This agreement is a tacit and unspoken contract to avoid those issues that might prove potentially damaging to their well being. This phenomenon is referred to as Defensive Routines and has been extensively covered by Chris Argyris since the 1970s. They might be defined as routines used by both people and the organisation to keep themselves deliberately in the dark so as to avoid unpleasant surprises, threats or anything that might be construed as uncomfortable. Defence routines exist but they are undiscussible.

Suspicion often surrounds the diagnostic stage. People are likely to ignore anyone who tries to delve deeply. You must be able to mentally climb inside the person under investigation, to take on board their beliefs and goals and feel what they are feeling, no matter how alien or bizarre it might seem. In doing this, it becomes possible to understand what their personal needs are and why they are operating from the shadow side of their personality.