Stuck?: Dealing With Organizational Trauma

For a while, the way we look at organizations started moving from a machine-like to a living systems perspective. In doing so, it’s becoming more and more clear that organizations can get stuck due to overwhelming events or chronic toxic conditions. Machines can get broken and fixed. Living systems can’t be fixed. They need healing when wounded.

• What if you are confronted with organizational trauma as a leader, manager, consultant or coach?
• How do you recognize an organization that is getting stuck?
• What kind of incidents or conditions can induce organizational trauma?
• What is needed to facilitate healing?
• What makes an organization more resilient?

All these questions are answered throughout this book that is opening a new field for the corporate world.

20 years of experience are gathered in this book based on the Dutch edition that was awarded for Best Management Book of 2016 by the Dutch Organization for Organizational Consultants. To write this book, the author combined his broad experience as a guide for organizational renewal with a deep dive in the field of individual and systems trauma. Based on this experience, the author is often invited as a keynote speaker and expert in the field of organizational development.

“Healthy organizations can be Forces for Good,” is a key message of his work. A call to action to stop neglecting and start dealing with organizational trauma.

Some reviews:

Heather Plett, author of The Art of Holding Space.

”This book should be in the toolkit of everyone who leads, supports, influences, and/or holds space for an organization. I wish that I'd had it back in the days when I worked in leadership in government and non-profit. I know that it would have helped me identify and work to heal trauma that I had little awareness of at the time. Recently, I co-founded a new organization, and I know that what I learned in this book will change the way I work with my people.

I especially appreciated the way that Philippe organizes his thoughts and provides helpful illustrations for even the most complex concepts. As a visual thinker, I found the way he explains trauma in an organization by mapping it on the Trauma Cube to be very useful in understanding the complexity and layers involved. I also really appreciated a simple illustration showing the rings of a tree which helps explain how trauma is not linear but that it stays with us, just as the inner rings of the tree continue to stay with the tree even in later years of life.

If you care about an organization and you sense that there may be some trauma that is keeping your organization stuck, I’m confident that you’ll find something in this book that will help you.

Jan Jacob Stam, author of several books and pioneer in the field of systemic work

You're holding a remarkable book in your hands on a delicate subject. I only can recommend reading it. From your common sense, from your heart, from your soul, and for the love of the organizations you are contributing to.

Jan Vermeiren, author of The Compassionate Leader and other books

”This book fits right in the current timeframe. On the one hand, there are lots of possibilities, on the other one, this causes more complexity. In order to deal with this situation, we need to go to a deeper level in organizations. It is the layer where the life force is stuck to a small or large extent. The first step is to learn to recognize it, only then action can be taken. “Stuck” follows this structure. Thanks to the handy visuals and real-life stories I got to understand what trauma in organizations is about. Then I was presented with insights and tools to heal smaller and larger traumas. It is clear that when they are used, the life force can return in a team or organization. Recommended!”