Lernen im Team

The recent rapid changes of the economic conditions in the health care system have lead to a sense af crisis especially in mental health care organisations. The goal of high quality health care is in conflict with the economic necessity of cost cutting and profitability. The demand for rapid change processes collides with a special need for stability in mental health care organisations. In treating this dilemma, we can observe a marked inclination for splitting as a defence, which is acted out especially between leadership and work force, as well as between the management and the therapeutic part of the institutions. This danger of splitting can be counteracted with an attitude of integrating and balancing the different needs and by orientating the organisation at the principles of a ?learning organisation“ (Senge 1990). Such an organization can use the capacity of self-management in treating the above mentioned dilemma. In addition, the capacity of ?learning from experience“ (Bion 1962) proves as an essential asset in the survival of mental health care organizations. In such organizations, work and learning is primarily organized in the structure of teams — this article will therefore discuss how teams organize learning and how they treat the dynamics of stability and change.