“Negative capability”: managing the confusing uncertainties of change

Abstract

Explores how psychoanalytic thinking can contribute to the management of the conflicting emotions stimulated by change. Suggests that successful change management depends on a combination of``positive'' and``negative'' capabilities. The positive capabilities involve the management of the substantive content of any change initiative, the change process itself, and the roles and procedures required by both of these. However, even when these three``technical'' aspects are well managed, change always arouses anxiety and uncertainty. As a result, there is a tendency to``disperse'' energy; that is, to be deflected from the task into a range of avoidance tactics. Through a particular understanding of such``dispersal'' and its opposite, the``capacity to contain'', psychoanalysis can suggest how this counterproductive tendency may be more effectively managed. The British psychoanalyst Wilfred Bion called this capacity to contain``negative capability''.

Chapter 4 Personality, affect, and organizational change: a qualitative study

“…But, while theoretical treatments of the psychodynamics of organizational life (Carr, 1998;Gabriel, 1998) and organizational change (Carr, 1999(Carr, , 2001French, 2001) are evident, empirical qualitative expositions of this nature are rare (Vince, 2006) and seldom relate personality to the experience of change.…”

To have to halve to have: “Being” in the middle in changing time's space

“…To minimize these effects, psychological perceptual distortions (Schermerhorn, Hunt, & Osborn, 2003) manifest themselves in defense behaviors that are used to protect identity. Reflexive shortcuts help form illusions or delusions that any change from learning or otherwise will separate the self from personal values or beliefs, which is instrumental in producing change resistance or avoidance (French, 2001). Alternatively, identity sustainment creates potential for change acceptance, and perhaps change leadership, which are propelled by physical and mental "energy and hope" (Carr & Gabriel, 2001, p. 419).…”

“…The fear of negative transformation is negated through continual courageous attempts at transformation, which is the desire to compromise but with negative capability (French, 2001) or the belief that there is a synthesis between collaboration and subject subject relationships or collabrelations. Collabrelations i s our term for willingness to experience, through partial and incremental world-view transformation or partial identity dissolution, the giving of self or serving of others that creates unknown, long term benefit without expectation of receiving a short term return.…”

“…Without the desire to better invest through paradigmatic transformation, the middle manager is unable to become divested of 'bad' values, attitudes and beliefs, which therefore, impedes leadership toward the establishment of 'good' cultural norms (Hall, 1990). By learning to co-create negative capability (French, 2001) middle managers can help self and others instead of self or others. This passage through space and time occurs by continually moving through intermediaries to split differences between contraries or between master or slave (Aristotle, circa 344-322 BC/1961;Hegel, 1807Hegel, /1977.…”

Jungian archetypes and dreams of social enterprise

“…As writers of the psychodynamic school have suggested, the responses of human resource experts have often ignored the emotions generated by enforced change, preferring almost to regard 'resistance' by employees as stupidity or wilful obstruction, rather than an example of psychological defence mechanisms (Carr, 2001, French, 2001, Fotaki, 2006. As French (2001) points out, it is of little importance whether the change is deliberate, or a response to environmental contingency: it is still the generator of a range of challenging emotion.…”