Importance of Diagnosis in Organizational Assessment: Harry Levinson's Contributions.

Abstract

This article reviews the role of organizational diagnosis in managerial and organizational consultative roles. The particular contributions of Harry Levinson are highlighted. The ways in which Levinson, a pioneering clinical psychologist of work and organizational issues and a pioneering psychologist-consultant, utilized and approached organizational diagnosis are reviewed. Methods of integrating these perspectives in the day-to-day work of psychologist-managers are discussed.Of course, it is possible to be a manager who is also a psychologist and who makes little use of psychological training and background in implementing the administrative role. To be a psychologist-manager, however, assumes that one applies expertise from one's psychological training and from the psychologist's role to the day-to-day work as a manager or leader (Lowman, 1997). Psychologist-managers need to be able to think in psychological, not just managerial, concepts and principles, whether working for organizations as managers or as consultants. Although psychologist-managers cannot be exclusively organizational diagnosticians and interventionists when they are serving in the managerial or leadership roles-that would create a role conflict (Lowman, 1998;Newman, Robinson-Kurpius, & Fuqua, 2002)-they can benefit from applying their psychological expertise to the managerial role and in thinking about their roles and responsibilities from the psychological, not just the managerial, perspective. Organizational diagnosis or assessment is part of this process. In this article, I highlight the contributions of one of the premiere organizational assessors and consultants, clinical and consulting

La consultation: Un rôle professionnel à mieux définir.

“…Dans le modèle d 'Earll et Bath (2004), les compétences cliniques prennent la forme de « valeurs », telles que la prise en compte de la réalité du milieu, la recherche de solutions concrètes aux difficultés et un souci constant de transparence. Dans d'autres modèles, les compétences cliniques réfèrent à l'utilisation de techniques issues des modèles cliniques d'intervention (par ex., des techniques de transfert et de contre-transfert de l'approche psychodynamique, de renforcement positif ou négatif de l'approche comportementale, ou encore d'exploration des sentiments de l'approche existentielle; Lowman, 2005). Selon Huffington (1999), par exemple, une compétence clinique importante chez le consultant est la « contenance » (notion issue des modèles psychodynamiques), c'est-à-dire la capacité à « contenir », par exemple, son propre sentiment d'inefficacité au cours de la consultation afin de rassurer le milieu consultant quant à son sentiment d'échec ou d'impuissance et de susciter sa motivation ou sa collaboration.…”

“…Dans le mode `le d 'Earll et Bath (2004), les compe ´tences cliniques prennent la forme de « valeurs », telles que la prise en compte de la re ´alite ´du milieu, la recherche de solutions concre `tes aux difficulte ´s et un souci constant de transparence. Dans d'autres mode `les, les compe ´tences cliniques re ´fe `rent a `l'utilisation de techniques issues des mode `les cliniques d'intervention (par ex., des techniques de transfert et de contre-transfert de l'approche psychodynamique, de renforcement positif ou ne ´gatif de l'approche comportementale, ou encore d'exploration des sentiments de l'approche existentielle; Lowman, 2005). Selon Huffington (1999)…”

Sources of scholarly and professional literature in psychology and management.

“…The psychologist-manager wears many hats—executive, manager, expert, psychologist, consultant—but individuals who rely on the psychologist-manager for professional advice usually view the psychologist-manager as a professional expert. As noted by Lowman (2005), “To be a psychologist-manager... assumes that one applies expertise from one’s psychological training” (p. 17). A central component of graduate training is gaining competency in research skills, and competency in research includes learning how to locate and identify scholarly literature, that is, how to conduct a literature review.…”

Do Not ‘Hit and Miss’ Or ‘Spray and Pray’, Diagnose First

“…Organisational diagnosis with systematic and pertinent data collection will unfold the way an organisation is functioning and will determine the current state of the organisation (Slocum & Hellriegel, 2007). It is an involved undertaking, which entails the "interweaving of data from multiple sources to draw conclusions (inferences about what ails an organization and how it can be fixed or made better" (Lowman, 2005). Effective diagnosis entails assessing the forces which may enable or hinder the process of accomplishing the change objective (that is, what needs to be achieved out of it) (Grundy, 1995) and must be conducted in a manner that brings about meaning, reduces pain, and contributes to promoting the well-being of the organisation (Lowman, 2005).…”

“…It is an involved undertaking, which entails the "interweaving of data from multiple sources to draw conclusions (inferences about what ails an organization and how it can be fixed or made better" (Lowman, 2005). Effective diagnosis entails assessing the forces which may enable or hinder the process of accomplishing the change objective (that is, what needs to be achieved out of it) (Grundy, 1995) and must be conducted in a manner that brings about meaning, reduces pain, and contributes to promoting the well-being of the organisation (Lowman, 2005). It helps the organisation to understand itself, its strengths, weaknesses and opportunities for improvement.…”