Book description
'Nature dictates that as individuals we are conceived, are born, and
then at some point later die. The shape of the arc that we follow,
involving growth and development with eventual decline, is something
that we might all like to influence. It has been argued that the same
basic curve, however, is followed by societies, civilisations and indeed
organisations. How does an organisation influence its trajectory? How do
organisations avoid the pull towards conservatism and protectionism
associated with the developmental plateau found at the top of the
curve?.... I think that in this book Professor Alessandra Lemma has
given us something of an insight into this process within one
organisation, the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust. ... The
work of the Trust is now broad. Training and education makes up almost
half of the activity, while Child and Adolescent mental Health Services
over half of the clinical work. Professor Lemma has, in this first
volume, broadly focused her attention on our work with Adolescents and
Adults ... She has clearly selected her authors for their quality and
supported them with similar care. All of this is evident in the chapters
that comprise this book, and in the description of an organisation
struggling to evolve in a manner that links it inextricably to the
communities and society within which it is situated as much as to its
own history.' - From the foreword by Dr Matthew Patrick, Chief
Executive, Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust
