Work And How To Survive It

In episode 6 of the Work and How to Survive it podcast, Antony Froggett interviews Dr Myna Trustram about her work with museums.

Myna describes her work in museums and explains how she became involved in using the ideas of the Tavistock, Psychoanalysis and Group Analysis to understand the unconscious dynamics of museums. She discusses some of the ideas that she is developing, including the concept of the Museum in the Mind, to understanding our personal and societal relationship to the past. Using her experience as a museum curator and an organisational consultant she describes how the collection of objects in museums can be used to avoid confronting change or in a creative way to "work through" (a Freudian term) personal and social issues. She argues that museums play an important role within society and are important to people by their existence whether or not they choose to visit them. She ends by describing the particular challenges faced by museums in confronting change (for example, due to cuts in public funding) and links this to their task of trying to preserve objects and a wish to not lose elements of the past.

 Biography:

Dr Myna Trustram studied history at the universities of Essex and Bristol.  Her book, Women of the Regiment: Marriage and the Victorian Army was published by Cambridge University Press in 1984 and re-printed in 2008. She has worked in museums for over twenty years, holding curatorial, management and research posts in London, Southampton, Preston and Manchester. In 2008 she completed the Tavistock Clinic's MA in Organisational Consultancy and in 2009 the Institute of Group Analysis introductory course in group analysis.  Her writing and research about the symbolic meaning of museums and collecting integrates these psychoanalytic, museological and historical strands.  She is particularly influenced by Tavistock group relations theory, Winnicott and Bollas.  She is currently an organisational consultant specialising in research and evaluation.

Recent Articles by Myna Trustram: 

2011 ‘Response to “Freud’s Antiquities”’, Psychodynamic Practice 17 (1), pp.73-9.

2012 forthcoming ‘The “Little Madnesses” of Museums’ in Annette Kuhn (ed.) Little Madnesses: Winnicott, Transitional Phenomena and Cultural Experiences. London: IB Tauris.

2013 forthcoming  Online July 2012.. (with Nick Mansfield). Remembering the buildings of the labour movement: an act of mourning. International Journal of Heritage Studies. 19 (5).

If you would like to subscribe to the Work And How to Survive It podcast you can do this by clicking on these links for ITunes or Feedburner.

We’d like to hear your feedback about the show! You can leave us your comments or questions by emailing us at: [email protected]

Or you can leave a voice message by telephoning us on: 0161 820 6507 (within the UK) or +44 161 820 6507 (from outside the UK)

Antony Froggett interviews Dr Ceri Dornan about Balint Groups in episode 5 of the Work and How to Survive it podcast.

Dr Ceri Dornan talks about the history of Balint Groups, describes how a Balint Group works and why they can be so enlivening and stimulating for those who get involved. She mentions the research that suggests Balint Groups can prevent "burn out" for professionals, but also explains why Balint Groups may not be for everyone.

Balint Groups are named after Michael Balint (a Hungarian psychoanalyst), who together with his wife Enid, set training groups for GPs at the Tavistock Clinic in London in the 1950s.

Traditionally a Balint group is a group of GPs (doctors in general practice) who meet on a regular basis with two facilitators (a psychotherapist and a GP) to explore in depth their experience of the doctor - patient relationship. They do this to become more aware of the complexities of the dynamics in their consultations and to be more effective in their engagements with patients. 

Since these beginnings Balint Groups have been organised for other medical specialities (such as psychiatrists in training in the UK) and also for other professional groups who work closely with clients - such as social workers, academic tutors, counsellors and even lawyers.

If you would like to find out more about Balint Groups you can join one of the Balint Group weekends which take place in Oxford, Lancashire and Northumberland each year (see the weblink below). People within the Greater Manchester area can explore the possibility of joining one of the Balint Groups organised by Thinking Space Consultancy by telephoning 0161 820 7899 or using our contact form.

Useful Weblinks:

The Balint Society (in the UK )

The International Balint Federation

Amazon affiliate links: 

Michael Balint  The Doctor, His Patient and The Illness

Andrew Elder and Oliver Samuel (eds)  While I'm Here Doctor: Study of Doctor-patient Relationships

If you would like to subscribe to the Work And How to Survive It podcast you can do this by clicking on these links for ITunes or Feedburner.

We’d like to hear your feedback about the show! You can leave us your comments or questions by emailing us at: [email protected]

Or you can leave a voice message by telephoning us on: 0161 820 6507 (within the UK) or +44 161 820 6507 (from outside the UK)

In episode 4, Antony Froggett and Jim Davis discuss the issue of authenticity at work.

What do we mean by authenticity and why is it relevant to the world of work? Most people agree that authenticity is a good thing, just like honesty, so why then is there so little emphasis on the importance of authenticity in the workplace? There is perhaps an "authenticity paradox" in which organisations wish to prescribe behaviour (and sometimes attitudes) that are seen as "good" (good for efficiency, good for profits, good for customer care) but in doing so they create interactions between workers and clients which are lifeless, disengaged and routine. Authentic engagement is often viewed as a good thing but it cannot be prescribed or monitored as easily as conventional work goals. Authenticity (and the spontaneity that it requires) is therefore anxiety provoking and disconcerting. There is the anxiety of not knowing where an authentic conversation might lead and the fear of making mistakes. Paradoxically, it is when things are most difficult (e.g. when someone wishes to make a complaint) that an authentic, non-scripted dialogue is likely to be experienced as genuinely helpful by clients.

Amazon affiliate links to books on authenticity: 

Neil Crofts  Authentic: How to Make a Living by Being Yourself

Rob Goffee  Why Should Anyone Be Led by You?: What It Takes To Be An Authentic Leader 

James H Gilmore and B Joseph Pine Ii  Authenticity: What Consumers Really Want

If you would like to subscribe to the Work And How to Survive It podcast you can do this by clicking on these links for ITunes or Feedburner.

We’d like to hear your feedback about the show! You can leave us your comments or questions by emailing us at: [email protected]

Or you can leave a voice message by telephoning us on: 0161 820 6507 (within the UK) or +44 161 820 6507 (from outside the UK).

Welcome to the Work And How To Survive It podcast brought to you by Thinking Space Consultancy

In episode 3 we discuss the article by Tim Dartington called In Defence of Inefficiency.

In this podcast we explore Dartington's arguments about the limitations of efficiency - in particular how professional judgement and leadership are potentially excluded by an emphasis on following procedures for decision-making. He argues that workers inevitably end up orientating themselves towards the procedures, and the management monitoring systems that accompany these, rather than to the actual effectiveness of their actions.

He argues that those workers with a therapeutic task - whose work can only take place on the basis on establishing trusting relationships with clients - are undermined by systems of inspection that do not trust either the worker or the client. He highlights a trend which has lead to "a shift in emphasis from doing the right thing to doing things right (e.g. a shift from leadership to management and from effectiveness to efficiency". We give several examples in the podcast, both from the paper and from our consulting experience, to illustrate this argument.

He asserts that we need to have apparently non-productive times - what Bion called reverie and which we call thinking space - in order to allow for the possibility of new thoughts and ideas to emerge rather than repeating one's actions according to existing routines.

Related Links:

Reference for the article discussed: Tim Dartington  In Defence of Inefficiency  Organisational & Social Dynamics 4(2) 298-310 (2004)

It is possible to subscribe to the  Organsiational & Social Dynamics Journal via the Karnac Books website: http://www.karnacbooks.com/JournalOPUS.asp

Link to Tim Dartington's website: www.timdartington.com

You can subscribe to the Work And How to Survive It podcast via iTunes: http://bit.ly/jnoJSD

We’d like to hear your feedback about the show! You can leave us your comments or questions by emailing us at: [email protected]

Or you can telephone our voice message line on: 0161 820 6507 (within the UK) or +44 161 820 6507 (from outside the UK)oice message line on: 0161 820 6507 (within the UK) or +44 161 820 6507 (from outside the UK)

You can also keep in touch with Thinking Space Consultancy on Twitter: @_thinkingspace_

Welcome to the Work And How To Survive It podcast from Thinking Space Consultancy.

In episode 2 Antony Froggett and Jim Davis discuss why listening to feedback can be difficult and give their top three tips for how to listen to feedback.

If you would like to subscribe to the Work And How to Survive It podcast you can do this via ITunes or via our Feedburner link.

You can find the show notes and related web links by visiting our podcast webpage: www.thinkingspaceconsultancy.com/podcast.

We would like to hear your feedback about the show. You can leave us a question or a comment by emailing us at: [email protected].

Or by telephoning our voice message line on: 0161 820 6507 (within the UK) or +44 161 820 6507 (from outside the UK).

You can keep in touch with Thinking Space Consultancy by following us on Twitter.

Welcome to the Work And How To Survive It podcast brought to you by Thinking Space Consultancy

In episode 1 Antony Froggett and Jim Davis explore the issues and pitfalls in giving feedback. They talk about the difference between giving feedback about the person and giving feedback about behaviour. They also discuss why giving feedback can be difficult.

If you would like to subscribe to the Work And How to Survive It podcast you can do this via ITunes or via our Feedburner link

You can find the show notes and related web links by visiting our podcast webpage: www.thinkingspaceconsultancy.com/podcast

We’d like to hear your feedback about the show. You can leave us a question or a comment by emailing us at: [email protected]

Or by telephoning our voice message line on: 0161 820 6507 (within the UK) or +44 161 820 6507 (from outside the UK)

Welcome to the Work And How To Survive It podcast brought to you by Thinking Space Consultancy

In episode 0 (yes, zero!) Antony Froggett and Jim Davis introduce themselves and say a few things about their work with organisations.

This is a pilot episode which we used to learn the mechanics of how to create a podcast and to gain feedback about what people would like to hear in future shows. We also learnt that we should try not to argue when podcasting!

If you would like to subscribe to the Work And How to Survive It podcast you can do this via ITunes [http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/work-and-how-to-survive-it/id432482247] or via our Feedburner link [http://feeds.feedburner.com/libsyn/JGZv]

You can find the show notes and related web links by visiting our podcast webpage: www.thinkingspaceconsultancy.com/podcast

We’d like to hear your feedback about the show. You can leave us a question or a comment by emailing us at: [email protected]

Or by telephoning our voice message line on: 0161 820 6507 (within the UK) or +44 161 820 6507 (from outside the UK)