Foreword

ix

The existence of covert processes has been known for a long time. Whether we called them hidden agendas, unconscious desires, the elephant under-the-table, latent functions, or shared tacit assumptions, we knew they were there but rarely had a clear idea what to do about them.

For the therapist, the challenge has typically been how to bring the covert to the surface in a helpful way. For the group therapist or team leader, the complication was how to make members aware that they not only carried individual hidden agendas but also that the group itself evolved covert assumptions that guided and constrained its behavior to an unknown degree. For the negotiator or diplomat, the existence of covert intentions was taken for granted as intrinsic to the process of reaching agreement; diplomacy lay in knowing how to make the covert known without actually revealing it directly or at the wrong time.

In the human relations and organization development movement, there was a period when “openness” was taken almost as an absolute value—”let it all hang out, it will be good for you.” Giving feedback, telling people what we thought of them, was thought to improve relations and task accomplishment. But the introduction of sensitivity training into organizations soon showed that some kinds of openness were not welcome. We discovered that social norms about what to say and not say to each other could not be subverted without some undesirable consequences. Etiquette, tact, and politeness often required keeping covert things covert. But we also knew that covert processes strongly influenced the outcomes of social action, often in a negative way, so we could not simply ignore them.

I mention all of these issues and unresolved dilemmas because in this book we finally have a coherent approach to all of them. Not only does Bob Marshak provide under one cover an inventory of individual, group, and organizational covert processes, but he also provides ways of x assessing them and dealing with them. This should be particularly useful to organizational consultants and managers because it makes us realize that in all social interaction there are multiple covert processes operating. How we deal with them will obviously vary with the situation and there are no formulas for dealing with the covert, but if we cannot identify and perceive their operation we cannot deal with them at all. The reader will appreciate the many insights that this book provides.

Edgar H. Schein