Working Together: Organizational Transactional Analysis and Business Performance
Article Type: Suggested reading From: Human Resource Management International Digest, Volume 20, Issue 4
Anita Mountain and Chris DavidsonGower Publishing, 2011, ISBN: 9780566088469
An organization is the people who work in it and the culture that exists between them. Anita Mountain and Chris Davidson, in Working Together,write for all who would like to understand and improve the way in which they communicate. They use the transactional-analysis (TA) approach preferring,however, to call it common sense.
The authors successfully take up the challenge of obtaining a balance between academic theory and practical application without oversimplifying the approach. The book attempts to provide everyone in the workforce – from the shop floor to the managing director – with options on how to relate.
The book is a down-to-earth yet intelligent read and a must for those who wish to improve the quality of relationships and productivity. The differentiating elements of this excellent text are:
the small vignettes or case illustrations toward the end of every chapter;
composite illustrations based on the combined 40-year experience of the authors; and
the exercises to undertake for reinforcement and enhancement of learning.
After an introductory chapter, chapter 2 considers the context of people at work. It examines beliefs about self, others and the world. It also introduces the reader to a central concept in TA, “OKness”, which is to do with our relationship with ourselves, others and the world. Mountain and Davidson identify areas of OKness in terms of life positions, quality of relationships,self-esteem, cohesion, blame, openness to learning, volatility, management,hope, investment and resilience. They also introduce the reader to the three-dimensional model of OKness, which has been successfully used in organizations with teams of individuals struggling to relate to each other in effective ways.
The readers are also acquainted with the African philosophy of Ubuntu –“humanity toward others” – which fits well with OKness. The authors explore the many aspects of OKness in the workplace in both one-to-one relationships and the larger networks within an organization. The chapter proposes that many difficult situations between people can more easily be understood than is often believed and that this understanding can then be used to find a solution to the problem.
The next chapter reinforces the importance of getting communication right in the workplace so as to create a positive and trusting organizational culture. The chapter explores ways of developing effective communication by outlining two different models; one with observable behavior (the OK modes model) and the other with what goes on inside us (the inside picture). Through the OK modes model, the authors describe four effective modes – supportive,structuring, co-creative and playful – which invite an “I’m OK,you’re OK” response.
This beautiful explanation of effective modes is followed by a clarification of ineffective modes which complete the OK modes model. The ineffective modes are criticizing, inconsistent, interfering, over-adapted, oppositional and reckless.
The chapter then proceeds to elaborate on the second model – the inside picture. This model is based on the structural ego state model, which is used to describe how people develop and what happens inside their heads. The authors consider it a great model for gaining better understanding of ourselves and others.
The structural ego state model comprises three states – parent ego,integrating adult ego and child ego. Readers are then helped to understand which ego state a person is in. This assessment, according to the authors, is at four levels – behavioral, social, historical and phenomenological.
The authors compare both these models to a Russian matrushka doll – the OK modes model being the outside doll and the structural ego state model being one of the inside dolls.
The chapter concludes with the message that the OK modes model and ego state model are linked. If we have integrated, effective role models and are able to use our creativity and fun, we probably have an effective integrating adult ego state. This will then show in our behavior and, in the OK modes model, we would be in the mindful process.
The next chapter is a continuation of the previous one, talking about how to be an effective communicator. The chapter highlights that one strength of TA is that it has ways to develop clear communication which can be taught and understood by most people, across cultures and across hierarchy in organizations.
The authors again use the OK modes model to explain what goes on during communication and discuss transactions during communication in terms of parallel transactions, crossed transactions and ulterior transactions. The authors then discuss some basic rules of communication, emphasizing that effective communication starts with self-talk – internal dialog with self. The chapter concludes with the reinforcement that to be an effective communicator,we need to be interested in others and the co-creative process of dialog.
The succeeding chapter outlines the value of recognition, which when exercised at the workplace makes employees feel positive about coming to work and focus energy productively. In detail, the authors discuss, with illustrations, positive and negative recognition, recognition and motivation,and strokes and relationships. The chapter underlines the fact that giving and receiving strokes is a dynamic process which promotes or inhibits relationships. Obtaining the balance between the nature and type of strokes for each individual is an important part of management and leadership.
Any effective workplace depends on people agreeing with each other most of the they do. This is the thrust of the sixth chapter. It focuses on the art of reaching agreements, including different types of agreements or contracts, the process of reaching an agreement (referred to as contracting), and tips on ensuring clarity, professional effectiveness and goal-led outcomes. The authors then detail the types of contract, purposes of contract making and complexities of contract making. Very effectively, the authors are able to drive home the fact that effective contracting is relevant to every sphere of life –home, work and leisure.
The seventh chapter outlines the concept of working styles as a way to increase understanding, develop tolerance and expand our ability to relate to others. The five drivers of working styles – please others, be strong,hurry up, be perfect and try hard – are then focused upon. The readers learn that working styles are the positive resource part of the driver behavior that we developed as a way to defend ourselves against negative messages as a child.
The next two chapters discuss the process of discounting and the psychological games we play at times. The authors point out that discounting is in relation to ourselves, necessary actions, other people or our surroundings. Types of discounting – information, options and responsibility – are then discussed. This is followed by the areas of discounting: self and others.
Readers are also exposed to the discounting process and the route to accounting. Talking about psychological games, as termed in TA, the authors define a game as a set of transactions between two or more people that follows a familiar pattern of behavior and has a predictable outcome – which invariably involve bad feelings. The chapter explores what games are and why we play them. Stephen Karpman’s diagram, “the dram triangle”, which talks of the three roles of persecutor, rescuer and victim, is used to analyze the games that people get into which other.
Every organization has stories, positive or negative, about its origin,founder(s) and the people within it. These stories have a strong influence on the workforce’s views of the organization. They largely determine people’s understanding of what can or cannot be done within an organization. Chapter 10 explores this aspect, starting with the individual and then extending this to the organization.
The authors reveal that in TA, “story” is called the “life script”, which effectively is a plan we develop in our childhood about who we are, how we relate to other people and the way we should live our lives. This is what is termed “creating your script”. These beliefs and decisions then influence the strategies and actions we take throughout our lives.
Readers are informed that Berne developed the idea of scripts and introduced the term “racket” for what is otherwise called substitute feelings,which we can experience in response to independently occurring stress situations, ones which we have not initiated. This substitute system, also called script system, is therefore a process we used as children and may still be using as adults, to cover one feeling with another. The authors then proceed to discuss organizational scripts and high-pressure sales.
The following chapter is designed as a guide to the way TA sees the formation and the structure of an organization, how its culture develops and the subsequent leadership processes that come into play. The organization is discussed at three levels – its past, present and future – which are interlinked and the product of each other. Through various diagrams in the chapter, the authors show a path to assess how people think the organization,division, department or team is at the moment and where they would like to be.
The next two chapters are devoted to integrative leadership and culture. The chapters aim to explain specific aspects of management, leadership and culture. The authors reiterate that integrative leadership and management demand a range of professional and personal skills and that remaining in the “I’m OK, you’re OK” on the OK corral and within the mindful process on the OK modes will greatly help with the leadership task both at professional and personal levels. The authors believe that the culture of an organization is like a fugue in an orchestral composition – the central theme that runs throughout the organization.
The next chapter discusses bullying. Understanding bullying can lead the potential victim to be empowered through responding, rather than reacting. The chapter begins with the definitions of bullying followed by stages and types of bullying behavior and bullying and corporate culture.
The succeeding chapter deals with stress and life balance. Stress is explored from both an organizational and an individual perspective and how these two areas interact.
The authors base the next chapter on a model named concepts for thriving. These can be used by individuals, teams and organizations to assess what needs to change and where intervention is needed. The authors point out that while the model is not directly linked to TA, it does fit with the TA philosophy and the belief that safety and security are of paramount importance for a productive and harmonious workforce. The chapter discusses in detail the seven basic components that promote a thriving individual, group team and organization: emotional safety, positive reinforcement, belonging, clear communication, productive activity, integration and celebration. When these basic components are not established, nourished or applied, they can affect the extent to which the organization becomes dysfunctional.
The last chapter of this extremely informative book explores the ways to deal with or reduce countering anger and conflict, with a key focus on conflict between people – individuals, teams, and departments. The authors remind readers that the only effective way to deal with conflict is to seek to understand others and be willing to put down our own prejudices and assumptions.
The book concludes with a comprehensive overview of organizational-transactional analysis. In order to do this, the authors share two additional models that they have developed to enable organizational development: the dynamic-diagnostic diagram (the 3D model) and the organizational-web model. Having considered both these models, readers can start to apply the transactional-analysis concepts outlined in this must-read book and decide which concepts are relevant as interventions to develop the organization.
Reviewed by Dr Shailja Agarwal, of the Indian Institute of Management, Rohtak, India.
A version of this review appeared in Training & Management Development Methods, Vol. 26 No. 3, 2012.
