Online Conference 5-11 July 2021
Dreaming the Unspoken: Inheritance, Power and Renewal in a Fragmenting World
ISPSO South Africian Regional Meeting 2026
1–2 October 2026, Johannesburg
1-2 October 2026
Henley Business School Africa, Johannesburg, South Africa
Organisations are living systems. Beneath their structures, strategies and performance lie emotional currents that are seldom discussed but profoundly influential.
Questions of authority, belonging, identity, succession, loss, dependency, conflict and renewal shape organisational life long before they are spoken aloud. Often, it is these unconscious and relational dynamics that determine how organisations respond to uncertainty, navigate complexity and sustain change.
In times of turbulence, what remains unspoken frequently exerts the greatest influence.
The ISPSO South Africa Regional Event invites participants into a reflective space where these deeper organisational dynamics can be explored with curiosity, courage and collective inquiry. Rather than seeking quick answers, we will create the conditions for thinking together about organisational life in all its richness and complexity.
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.
Every organisation inherits patterns of leadership, culture, assumptions, trauma and possibility. Together we will explore how these legacies continue to influence the present and shape the future.
Authority is never merely a formal role. We will explore how power, identity, diversity, culture and belonging interact within organisations and how these dynamics influence leadership, followership and organisational effectiveness.
Social Dreaming offers a unique opportunity to explore organisational life through dreams as shared social phenomena. Rather than interpreting individual dreams, participants will discover how collective dreaming can illuminate patterns, anxieties and possibilities within organisations and society.
How do organisations remain thoughtful when anxiety encourages certainty? What enables leaders and consultants to hold complexity rather than rush towards premature solutions? Together we will explore the conditions that make renewal possible.
This event welcomes consultants, organisational development practitioners, executive coaches, leaders, academics, researchers, psychologists, HR professionals and students who are interested in understanding organisations as living human systems.
Whether your work involves leadership, organisational transformation, consulting, coaching or research, the event offers an opportunity to think alongside colleagues from South Africa and around the world who share a commitment to reflective practice and organisational learning.
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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