Group Analytic Contexts, Issue 77, September 2017

52 Group-Analytic Society International - Contexts
and therefore interesting in itself. Is that the main contribution the
large group can offer, a mirror of society?
For me group analysis is a larger project than that. It is about
understanding, but also about transformation and change. In the small
group and the median group this obviously takes place, i.e.
transformation and change. However, it is something the large group
also can contribute to under certain circumstances. One key factor is
the number of members. According to some research results human
beings are able to remember the names of about 150, or at the most
200 persons in an organization or at a work place. It is equivalent to
the number of members in a clan or a tribe, which from a
developmental biology perspective makes sense. In the early history
of human beings, it was important for the survival of the individual to
recognize the members of the large group to which one belonged, to
separate enemies from friends. In a large group with about 150
members it is possible to develop bonds between people where
dialogue can develop. But it will not happen in a group of 400 people.
This simply reflects the basic biological and existential conditions of
being human.
I realize that I probably write this in vain. However, my hope
is that the organizers of the Barcelona symposium will have the
courage to start a new tradition, i.e. to have more than one large group,
preferably three. When I talk about this, many friends have told me
that it would be such a loss not to have the whole symposium dynamic
represented in the large group. This conclusion is wrong; the dynamic
of the larger context will be possible to experience and observe in the
three large groups. That is almost a basic tenet of group analysis. And
all members will meet at opening and closing sessions and during keynote
lectures. What is the point of having a large group consisting of
50% audience and 50% performers, where little development takes
place? One can question if much or anything is learned from the
experience at all.
Christer Sandahl
Stockholm
Christer.Sandahl@ki.se