Online Conference 5-11 July 2021
Venue: Henley Business School Africa, Johannesburg, South Africa
This regional gathering is designed as a holding space — one that embodies the psychoanalytic capacity to contain anxiety, foster reflection and support meaningful dialogue in a world increasingly marked by fragmentation, polarisation, ecological pressures and declining trust in institutions.
Recognising that no region exists in isolation, the event will explore how organisational life is shaped by global capital flows, migration, colonial histories, ecological instability and widening inequalities. The regional becomes a lens through which global dynamics can be understood and metabolised, holding local and global realities together in a way that mirrors the work required of contemporary organisations.
This gathering is designed as a shared experience rather than a sequence of presentations.
Drawing on the traditions of organisational systems psychodynamics, psychoanalytic thinking, group relations and reflective practice, participants will engage with one another through keynote dialogues, Social Dreaming, facilitated conversations, application laboratories and scholarly paper presentations.
The emphasis is not on solving organisational problems, but on deepening our capacity to notice, think and work with the unconscious processes that shape organisational life.
Hosted in South Africa, this gathering also provides an opportunity to engage with organisational realities from both international and African perspectives, recognising that leadership, authority and belonging are always experienced within particular historical, cultural and societal contexts.
Rather than offering simple solutions, this gathering seeks to cultivate richer ways of seeing.
Participants will develop a deeper understanding of the unconscious dynamics that shape organisational life, strengthen their capacity to work with complexity, authority and difference, discover practical insights for consulting and leadership practice, and build meaningful relationships within an international community committed to thoughtful organisational inquiry.
Perhaps most importantly, participants will leave with renewed curiosity about organisations - not simply as systems to be managed, but as human communities whose deepest possibilities often emerge when we find the courage to think together about what has remained unspoken.
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Conference Director
Dr Rica Viljoen is an Organisational Development and Change specialist, Jungian coach and psycho-analytically informed consultant. She consults internationally on executive and board level; mostly on multicultural-dynamics, inclusivity, leadership maturity, group dynamics and culture. Rica is associated with the Da Vinci Institute and Regenesys University and is actively involved in academic supervision, mostly on doctorate level. She is internationally acknowledged as a post merger-and-acquisition expert and a thought leader on adaptive capability of individuals, groups, organizations and the societies in which they function. She weaves together insights gained from academia, as executive and as systems-psychodynamic practitioner into a dynamic manner to optimize the systems in which she operates. She is widely published and continues to further her life’s purpose - to support leaders in organizations to embody their authentic voice.
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Co-host and Chair: Marketing and Administration
Thando Ikaneng is a management consultant whose work focuses on research and social development within the South African public sector. With a BCom Honours degree in Industrial Psychology from the University of Johannesburg and experience in organisational consulting and Spiral Dynamics, she is particularly interested in the unconscious dynamics that shape organisational life. Representing a younger generation entering the psychoanalytic organisational field, Thando brings curiosity, reflective depth and an intersectional perspective. She is committed to creating spaces where individuals, groups and organisations can think more deeply about complexity, relationships and transformation.
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Chair: Academic Papers
Michelle S May (D Litt et Phil, Unisa) is a full professor in the department of Industrial and Organisational Psychology at University of South Africa (UNISA). She is a registered clinical psychologist. She is the manager of the PhD programme in Consulting Psychology (IOP, UNISA) and the coordinator of the Research Focus Areas Systems psychodynamics and Socio–analytic Methods (IOP, UNISA). Michelle received training in systems psychodynamics, from ISLA and the Tavistock Institute (UK), and consulted to GRCs nationally and internationally. She directed the Robben Island Diversity Experience (RIDE) from 2002 until 2014. She consulted in The Institute for Leadership and Transformation (TILT)’s annual GRC in 2016 and 2017 and directed the annual online Group Relations conference in 2021. She is an Executive Member of the Interest Group in Systems Psychodynamics of Organisations (IGSPO) under the auspices of the Society for Industrial and Organisational Psychology South Africa (SIOPSA).
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Chair: Review and Integration
Dr Jean Cooper is an Industrial and Organisational Psychologist, organisational consultant, executive coach and educator whose work explores the dynamics of leadership, groups and organisational transformation. Holding a PhD in Industrial and Organisational Psychology from the University of Pretoria, his doctoral research examined the forces involved in being a member of a small group, reflecting his longstanding interest in group relations and systems psychodynamics. Founder of The Institute for Leadership and Transformation (TILT), Jean has facilitated Tavistock Group Relations conferences internationally and contributed extensively to teaching, research and practice. Through his consulting, coaching and scholarly work, he helps leaders and organisations engage more thoughtfully with authority, relationships, complexity and change.
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Chair: Social Dreaming
Dr Calum McComb is a Consulting Psychologist, Post-Doctoral Fellow, organisational consultant, executive coach and researcher whose work focuses on the unconscious and systemic dynamics that shape organisational life. Holding a PhD in Consulting Psychology from the University of South Africa, his research explores how identity, authority, belonging, loss and recognition influence organisational transitions. His doctoral work examined the systems psychodynamics of voluntary turnover, while his current postdoctoral research investigates the psychological and systemic dimensions of career, leadership and organisational transitions. Bridging research and practice, Calum supports leaders and organisations to engage more thoughtfully with complexity, uncertainty and change, creating conditions for reflection, adaptation and sustainable transformation.
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