Psychodynamic Aspects of Interactions between the Leader and the Team in the Context of the Agile Transformation

Nowadays organizations are in the constant search of the new formats of interactions pursuing the maximization of business results. One of the sources of competitive market advantage are innovations, speed of decision making and flexibility of organization. It explains the interest to Agile culture promising the above advantages. Adaptation, self-organization, ability to act in uncertainty are the key traits of the new teams. Changes in the roles and collaboration formats are based on a different nature of psychodynamic interactions embodying both risks and opportunities for the organization. The study examines the psychodynamic aspects of interaction between leaders and teams in the context of Agile transformation in the example of an international biotechnology company. The purpose of the study is to consider the features of interaction between a leader and a team in an agile culture using a system-dynamic approach. The dissertation is based on an in-depth analysis of the key concepts of the leader-team interaction in the works of the main representatives of the psychoanalytic tradition and an empirical study of the dynamics of changes in the leader-team interaction based on the analysis of the organizational context, the researcher's observations, organizational texts and the results of interviews with leaders. The findings of the study confirm that the cultural code of Agile carries with it a major change in the habitual unconscious dynamics in the interaction of the leader and the team, affecting the functioning of the organization at various levels. In addition to the benefits of implementing an Agile culture - openness, innovation, speed and flexibility in decision-making, there are associated risks - blurring of boundaries and identity, weakening of support and containment. The findings of the study can be used by companies and leaders to deeper understand the opportunities and risks of underlying dynamics of implementing an Agile cultural code.