Dealing with organizational inertia: psychoanalytical insight and instruction

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present the concept of communities of practice from a psychoanalytically informed perspective. Design/methodology/approach – The concept of communities of practice is defined, their working described, and negative attributes delineated. Findings – The paper finds that through the exploitation of basic skills, the development and sharing of a shared language, incorporation of previous relevant experience and current information over time, the community of practice becomes more open. The group is better able to combine existing knowledge with emerging understandings. Practical implications – Psychoanalytically informed theory is applied to provide alternative insight into communities of practice and how they impede organizational progress. Originality/value – The paper illustrates how human nature influences the workplace in general and contributes to the working of communities of practice in particular.