Contributions of psychogeography to understanding unconscious dimensions of lived workplace experience

Abstract

This article explores the contribution that the concept of psychogeography can offer to organisational research, theory, consulting, leadership, management, and employees. Through several stories/storytelling coupled with psychodynamic interpretations, it examines and illustrates how people in workplace organisations invest space and artefacts with unconscious personal and group significance; how space and objects serve as powerful metaphors as well as utilitarian, task-based tools. Organisational space and objects are often used to serve as symbols of strong and powerful leaders. Ordinary workplace phenomena such as buildings, entrances, doors, desks, conference rooms and tables, and pictures turn out to possess enormous psychogeographic significance in what Michael Diamond calls the “unconscious life of organisations”. Projection-driven psychogeographic transference and its traps are discussed and illustrated. The article concludes with a discussion of the usefulness of a psychogeographic perspective in understanding and working with ordinary organisational leadership–management–employee relationships, task performance, research, and consulting.