Abstract
Manfred Kets de Vries has brought a unique form of humanistic and scientific thinking to the forces of organizational change. Early in his career, Prof. Kets de Vries argued that in order to survive and change, people in organizations must uncover and deal with human dynamics such as the anxiety or resistance of individuals, combined with such organizational forces as cultural code, embedded response patterns, and unhealthy adaptations to external pressures. In the early 1970s, this was an unorthodox point of view. Fast forward to a new century, and we see that thanks in part to Kets de Vries’ contribution, we have experienced a paradigm shift. Bringing human beings, with all their inherent messiness, into the organizational change equation is no longer heretical. If such thinking has become more acceptable today, it is because pioneering academics were able to challenge the limits of the rational, management science approach to organizational change.
This chapter addresses the early experiences and later influences that shaped the career of Manfred Kets de Vries, by putting him, metaphorically, on the psychoanalyst’s couch.
Keywords
To be published in David B. Szabla,William Pasmore, and Mary Barnes, Enduring Thoughts of the Thinkers of Organizational Change. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2017.
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Further Reading
Kets de Vries, M. F. R. (1980/1994). Organizational paradoxes: Clinical approaches to management. London/New York: Tavistock/Methuen.
Kets de Vries, M. F. R. (1991). Organizations on the couch. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Kets de Vries, M. F. R. (1995). Life and death in the executive fast lane: Essays on irrational organizations and their leaders. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Kets de Vries, M. F. R. (2001a). Struggling with the demon: Perspectives on individual and organizational irrationality. Connecticut: International Universities Press.
Kets de Vries, M. F. R. (2001b). The leadership mystique. London: Financial Times/Prentice-Hall.
Kets de Vries, M. F. R. (2005). Lessons on leadership by terror: Finding a Shaka Zulu in the Attic. London: Edward Elgar.
Kets de Vries, M. F. R. (2006). The leader on the couch. West Sussex: Wiley.
Kets de Vries, M. F. R. (2009a). Reflections on leadership and career development. West Sussex: Wiley.
Kets de Vries, M. F. R. (2009b). Reflections on character and leadership. West Sussex: Wiley.
Kets de Vries, M. F. R. (2009c). Sex, money, happiness and death: The quest for authenticity. Hampshire: Palgrave.
Kets de Vries, M. F. R. (2011a). The Hedgehog effect: The secrets of building high performance teams. West Sussex: Wiley.
Kets de Vries, M. F. R. (2011b). Reflections on groups and organisations. West Sussex: Wiley.
Kets de Vries, M. (2014). Mindful leadership coaching: Journeys into the interior. Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan.
Kets de Vries, M. (2015a). You will meet a tall dark stranger: Executive coaching challenges (The Palgrave Kets de Vries Library). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Kets de Vries, M. (2015b). Telling fairy tales in the boardroom: How to make sure your organization lives happily ever after (The Palgrave Kets de Vries Library). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Kets de Vries, M. (2016). Riding the leadership rollercoaster: A psychological observer’s guide. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Kets de Vries, M. F. R., & Engellau, E. (2004). Are leaders born or are they made: The case of Alexander the Great. London: Karnac Books.
Kets de Vries, M. F. R., & Florent-Treacy, E. (1999). The new global leaders. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Kets de Vries, M. F. R., & Miller, D. (1984). The neurotic organization: Diagnosing and changing counterproductive styles of management. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Kets de Vries, M. F. R., & Perzow, S. (1991). Handbook of character studies: Psychoanalytic explorations. New York: International Universities Press.
Kets de Vries, M. F. R., Florent-Treacy, E., Korotov, K., & Shekshnia, S. (2004). The new Russian business leaders. London: Edward Elgar.
Kets de Vries, M. F. R., Carlock, R., & Florent-Treacy, E. (2007). Family business on the couch: A psychological perspective. West Sussex: Wiley.
Kets de Vries, M. F. R., Guillen, L., Korotov, K., & Florent-Treacy, E. (Eds.). (2010). The coaching kaleidoscope: Insights from the inside. Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan.
Kets de Vries, M. F. R., Bernhardt, A., Korotov, K., & Florent-Treacy, E. (Eds.). (2011). Tricky coaching; Difficult cases in leadership coaching. Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan.
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Florent-Treacy, E., Korotov, K., Rook, C. (2017). Manfred F. R. Kets de Vries: Playing the Morosoph. In: Szabla, D., Pasmore, W., Barnes, M., Gipson, A. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Organizational Change Thinkers. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-49820-1_46-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-49820-1_46-1
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Kets de Vries, Manfred F. R.: Playing the Morosoph- Published:
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-49820-1_46-1