Consulting Psychology: Selected Articles

329 Pages·2008·19.92 MB·English

by  Harry Levinson

Consulting
Psychology
»iiiif
Selected Articles by
Harry Levinson
Edited by
Arthur M. Freedman and
Kenneth H. Bradt
American Psychological Association
Washington, DC
Copyright © 2009 by the American Psychological Association. All rights reserved. Except
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The opinions and statements published are the responsibility of the authors, and such
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Psychological Association.
Levinson, Harry.
Consulting psychology : selected articles / by Harry Levinson ; edited by Arthur M.
Freedman and Kenneth H. Bradt. — 1st ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN-13: 978-1-4338-0376-5
ISBN-10: 1-4338-0376-3
1. Psychology, Industrial. I. Freedman, Arthur M., 1937- II. Bradt, Kenneth H. III. Title.
HF5548.8.L36964 2009
658.001'9-<lc22 2008013061
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A CIP record is available from the British Library.
Printed in the United States of America
First Edition
CONTENTS
Preface ix
Arthur M. Freedman and Kenneth H. Bradt
Prologue xiii
Harry Levinson
Introduction: Quelling the Quills 3
Harry Levinson
I. Theory/Diagnosis 9
Chapter 1. Psychoanalytic Theory in Organizational
Behavior 11
Harry Levinson
Chapter 2. Reciprocation: The Relationship Between
Man and Organization 31
Harry Levinson
Chapter 3. Anger, Guilt and Executive Action 49
Harr^i Levinson
Chapter 4. Intuition vs. Rationality in Organizational
Diagnosis 57
Harry Levinson
Chapter 5. Organizational Character 65
Harr^i Levinson
Chapter 6. Why the Behemoths Fell: Psychological Roots
of Corporate Failure 79
Harry Levinson
Chapter 7. Psychological Consultation to Organizations:
Linking Assessment and Intervention 99
Harry Levinson
II. Consultation 135
Chapter 8. Assessing Organizations 137
Harry Levinson
Chapter 9. Executive Coaching 167
Harry Levinson
Chapter 10. Consulting With Family Businesses: What
to Look For, What to Look Out For 179
Harry Levinson
Chapter 11. What Motivates Directors? 191
Harry Levinson
Chapter 12. How Organizational Consultation Differs
From Counseling 209
Harry Levinson
Chapter 13. Giving Psychological Meaning to Consultation:
Consultant as Storyteller 211
Harry Levinson
Chapter 14. The Clinical Psychologist as Organizational
Diagnostician 223
Harry Levinson
III. Stress 231
Chapter 15. A Psychoanalytic View of Occupational
Stress 233
Harry Levinson
Chapter 16. Between CEO and COO 253
Harry Levinson
Chapter 17. Approaching Retirement as the Flexibility
Phase 267
Harry Levinson and Jerry C. Wofford
VI CONTENTS
IV. Leadership 287
Chapter 18. You Won't Recognize Me: Predictions
About Changes in Top-Management
Characteristics 289
Harry Levinson
About Harry Levinson 303
Index 317
About the Editors 333
CONTENTS m
PREFACE
ARTHUR M. FREEDMAN AND KENNETH H. BRADT
Harry Levinson's long, distinguished career is noteworthy for his unique
contributions as a psychologist to society. There are essentially three groups
who have benefited either directly, from his writings, lectures, seminars,
consulting, or mentoring, or indirectly, from his support of professional
organizations.
The first and largest of the three may be the thousands of managers,
executives, and leaders of all kinds of organizations throughout the world
who have studied with him at the Harvard Business School, attended the
Levinson Leadership Seminars, consulted with him, heard him speak, and
read his articles in the Harvard Business Review and other publications.
Second are the many psychologists whose first or second career focus
has been either primarily or secondarily on consulting psychology. These
are folks who have profited from his thinking through his seminars and
talks at professional meetings; personal mentoring; numerous books, espe
cially the seminal Organizational Diagnosis (Levinson, 1972); and articles
addressed specifically to fellow psychologists, many of which appeared in
the Journal of Consulting Psychology.
Third, we should acknowledge his effect on the science and profession
of psychology in general, manifest in his support of the organizations that
sponsor their advancement. Within the American Psychological Associa
tion (APA), he has been active in the divisions that reflect his interests in
clinical, organizational, psychoanalytic, and consulting psychology, focusing
on the need for research evidence for the principles of practice and an under
standing of the theoretical underpinnings of practice in these areas. Accord
ingly, he initiated the Harry and Miriam Levinson Award through the Ameri
can Psychological Foundation, granted annually to a psychologist whose work
has contributed substantially to this end. In addition to these contributions
IX
to the work of APA, he has supported other organizations with similar aims
(e.g., the Society of Psychologists in Management).
This book originated with Dr. Levinson's desire to assemble a selec
tion of his numerous articles in a single volume, reflecting his thinking on
a variety of issues of concern to consulting psychologists. When he invited
us to serve as editors, the first thing that struck us as we reviewed them was
the timelessness of his articles. Some were written many years ago but are
as relevant to our readers' concerns today as when they first appeared. We
came to realize that our hardest task would be selecting from the bevy of
articles published in numerous journals those that were most appropriate for
inclusion.
The Harvard Business Review had just published in book form a selec
tion of the many articles he had authored for that journal, but that hardly
made a dent in the reservoir. Although our intent here was to select articles
of particular interest to consulting psychologists—as opposed to managers
and leaders in organizations—the fact is that Dr. Levinson's language and
messages to both groups were often equally appropriate. Choosing was often
almost a matter of flipping a coin; it seemed to us that each article had a
valuable message. We had a real dilemma deciding which articles to exclude.
Fortunately, our editors at APA came to the rescue. We are especially
indebted to Susan Reynolds, who shepherded us through this process with
patience and aplomb.
As to the organization of the book. Dr. Levinson's original suggestion
was to group the articles into four parts—Theory/Diagnosis, Consultation,
Stress, and Leadership—with introductory comments by the editors for each
part. Had he been less adept at presenting narratives with intemal consis
tency and interconnecting themes, this would have been a good idea, but in
this case an editorial rationale for each part seemed redundant. However, we
would like to make one comment about Harry Levinson as theoretician.
If organizational consulting psychologists were surveyed as to their theo
retical orientation, a wide variety of responses would follow, with a majority
acknowledging that "eclectic" would best describe theirs. Harry Levinson is
one of a very small number who would answer unequivocally "psychoana
lytic." In an era when the general public and many psychologists view neo-
Freudian ideas with great skepticism. Dr. Levinson proceeded to explain such
concepts as the id-ego-superego personality model and the primacy of the
pursuit of one's ego-ideal as a key to motivation in ways that made sense to a
skeptical audience. He attributes his ability to help executives as a consult
ant to his grounding in a theoretical base—a fact that inspired him to en
courage and reward others for advancing psychoanalytic theory in support of
consultation interventions.
Finally, we should note the appropriateness of, and our appreciation
for, APA's decision to be the publisher of this book. When Dr. Levinson first
invited us to serve as editors, both of us first thought that APA would be the
X PREFACE
ideal publisher and that the primary sponsor should be Division 13 (Society
of Consulting Psychology). Dr. Ann O'Roark volunteered to serve as the
enthusiastic and tireless champion for our project and carried our proposal to
the leaders of the division, who strongly endorsed our proposal, seeing this
volume as aligned with the society's vision. We recommend this book to all
who are or would become consulting psychologists. We hope you will find it
to be both helpful and inspirational.
REFERENCE
Levinson, H. (with Spohn, A. G., & Molinari, J.). (1972). Organisational diagnosis.
Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
PREFACE xi
PROLOGUE
HARRY LEVINSON
My career focus no doubt arose from my earliest life experiences. My
parents were impecunious immigrants, my father from Poland and my mother
from Belarus, fleeing the anti-Semitic persecution in that part of the world.
In 1911, my father, a tailor, settled in Port Jervis, New York, rather than
work in the sweatshops of New York City. Unfortunately, he settled in a
railroad town, where few men had suits custom made.
He married my mother by arrangement, 3 weeks after she got off the
boat. I was bom 9 months later, followed 18 months later by my sister, Mildred,
and 6 years later by my brother, Samuel. Life was not easy for poor unedu
cated Jewish parents in a heavily Catholic community.
Fortunately, several of my teachers became supportive models. As a 10-
year-old, for reasons I shall never understand, I wrote "PhD" after my name
in an old notebook. When it was time to think about college, 1 had to deal
with two problems: (a) I had no money, and (b) although I was admitted to a
New York State teachers college, in those days anti-Semitism was so strong
that I could not expect to get a teaching job in New York State. In despera
tion, after I graduated from high school in 1939,1 took a job in a factory that
made braid for upholstered furniture. That year my high school hired a guid
ance counselor, Leona Johnson, who had come from Kansas. When I sought
her advice she suggested that I go to Kansas, where the tuition was low,
most students worked, and there would be no discrimination. I chose Em
poria State Teachers College because I had heard of William Allen White,
then a famous editor and novelist. I found Emporia to be a welcoming expe
rience. I continued to hone my writing skills and got deeply involved in
campus politics.
After graduation in 1943, military service intervened. When I returned
to Emporia, married to Roberta Freiman, to work on my master's degree, the
Veterans Administration (VA) announced its clinical psychology training
XIH