1EXPLODING THE MYTH ABOUT RATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS AND EXECUTIVES

This chapter is the introduction to the book Organizations on the Couch: Handbook of Psychoanalysis and Management. In this introduction it is argued that executives are not necessarily rational, logical beings but prone to a fair amount of irrational behavior which can seriously affect organizational processes. To understand the rationale behind this type of irrationality, the clinical paradigm is introduced as a way of decoding organizational "text. " A case study is presented to clarify the process of organizational "textual analysis. " Finally, a number of rules of interpretation are introduced. 3Exploding The Myth About Rational Organizations And Executives* Wo es war, soil Ich werden (Where id was, there ego shall be