The Tavistock Institute of Human Relations

02/07/2026

Young people don't usually talk about status. They just know that it is really tough to find a job, or that no college course seems to fit. They might feel it's their own fault. Even though so many people in their orbit aged 16-24 seem to be in the same boat.

It's policymakers who talk about status, because this is a national problem that needs urgent government action. The acronym means Not in Education, Employment, or Training. More one million young people are NEET in the UK and supporting them to find pathways into education, training and ultimately work is a huge policy priority for the autumn - and for our new PM in the UK.

Our in-house experts on and the European labour market have been looking at the evidence on what works to connect to jobs, education and training.

Personalised, sustained, relational support combined with skills training is what's needed - across Europe this type of provision consistently outperforms standalone, generic provision. This is according to the latest meta-evaluation looking at 147 European active labour market programmes from EU-ALMPO led by our colleague Łukasz Sienkiewicz.

Our work with low-skilled young job-seekers across Kent, France and Belgium applied learning-from-experience methodologies with young people, their families, and their tutors and mentors together, addressing the whole system, not just the individual.

Developing young people’s social capital — their peer and community networks — is critical to moving out of NEET status.

'The countries with the strongest outcomes succeed through sustained multi-agency coordination, trusted adult relationships, and support designed around the individual rather than the programme.' says Kari Hadjivassiliou, our Principal Researcher, partner lead at EU-ALMPO and expert contributor to comparative study of NEET interventions across France, Denmark, the Netherlands and Australia.

Every young person’s path out of NEET status is, at its core, a relational journey. It depends on the presence of trusted adults, sustained over time, working across the boundaries of education, health, employment and family support.

If you are working on youth employment, NEET reduction, or active labour market policy and want to explore how to apply complexity thinking and a systems-level approach, contact us via the comments.

17/06/2026

We moved office!

Announcing our new home at 50 Featherstone Street, just a few minutes walk from our previous space at Gee Street!

Featherstone Street is a beautiful setting for our clients and colleagues and staff to connect, study and work together.

Two minutes from Old Street station, Featherstone Street is perfectly suited to our needs.

We can’t wait to welcome you here!

New address

50 Featherstone St
London
EC1Y 8RT

11/06/2026

Join a six day expedition into the heart of Ethical Leadership!

Starts: October 2026
Discovery session: 23 June 2026

The focus is on *how* to develop your own ethical leadership practice.

This is an experiential programme, with time and space for individual and collective enquiry. It is fully online.

Sign up for the online Discovery session: https://tavinstitute.org/whats-on/discovery-session-ethics-in-leadership

Find out more: https://tavinstitute.org/professional-development/ethics-in-leadership

10/06/2026

You're invited! Our June Lunchtime Talk will explore the “inner theatre” of cyber risk management with Nancy Gossling, who connects systems psychodynamics with expertise in cyber risk management.

📍 Title: Defence against the Dark Arts of cyber: who cares for the caretakers?
When: Wednesday 17 June 2026, 1pm — 2.30pm
Where: online

Nancy will take a systems psychodynamic lens to explore the “inner theatre” of cyber risk management.

Cyber security is usually framed as a technical problem – network security, endpoint protection, data encryption and application security.

But responses such as anxiety, projection, denial, and fantasy offer insight into how cyber risk is understood and managed.

The question becomes not only how we manage cyber risk, but how those responsible are supported.

Join us - no charge as always (optional donations to our Bursary Fund invited)



https://tavinstitute.org/whats-on/defence-against-the-dark-arts-of-cyber-who-cares-for-the-caretakers

15/05/2026

Heroes, humour and everyday hate

Professor Lucian Hudson, our Chair of Council at the Tavistock Institute, selected this month’s Currents (our monthly moodboard).

“Just a snapshot of things that have stimulated my thinking this month”, said Lucian.

“Seeing clearly where we can take action, when there is a daily torrent of information and often difficult news, isn’t easy. But some people help to spark inspiration".

See what's caught Lucian's attention, and tell us what's caught yours.

This month's moodboard, with Lucian Hudson

12/05/2026

What is actually going on in your boardroom?

Our professional development programme is for board members and senior leaders who want , not just .

Unlike most leadership programmes, this one works with what's actually happening in the room. Through real-time experiential learning with your cohort, you develop insight into group dynamics and the unconscious processes that shape board decisions.

"Almost like magic, I suddenly began to recognise and understand my own dynamics." Zeina Akl, programme participant, 2024

Led by Dr Eliat Aram and Dr Mannie Sher of the Tavistock Institute, this certificated programme runs across four modules from September 2026 to January 2027.

Early bird discount of £1,500 available until 10 July.

https://tavinstitute.org/professional-development/certificate-in-dynamics-board-level

22/04/2026

Read about the strange, sometimes surreal duet of transference and countertransference, with Manfred Kets de Vries. His article was selected by Rachel Kelly for our new monthly moodboard Currents. See what else got Rachel thinking this month.

This month's moodboard, with Rachel Kelly

15/04/2026

This post is for leaders who want to know what we offer in these times of change.

"Winning the AI revolution will depend not just on the you deploy but also on how well you lead the using it" says Jon Clifton, CEO at Gallup, in the latest State of the Global Workplace Report.

So far, 95% of organisations have seen zero measurable impact from AI investments (MIT Project NANDA, 2025).

Why?

Because, adopting new tech is about human systems and readiness to change.

The Gallup report spotlights falling employee engagement - including amongst managers.

🔴 Employee engagement — the psychological attachment people feel to their work, their team and their employer — is key to readiness for change in organisations.

🔴 The sharpest decline in engagement is among managers and leaders, who also report significantly higher levels of stress, anger, loneliness and sadness than the people they lead (Gallup, 2026).

"The primary constraints for organisations are no longer model performance or tooling, but rather organisational readiness and implementation" (OpenAI enterprise report, 2025).

Focus on the human factors.

Find your grounded position with us.

02/04/2026

Group dynamics on boards can cause chaos

You know when something weird is going on, that under-the-table feeling. Why is A deferring to B and why didn't C say that thing you'd briefed her to say?

Most board development doesn't touch issues of deference and dissent (who speaks, who stays quiet, and why), and anxiety in collective decision-making (how boards under pressure narrow rather than open up).

We designed the Certificate in Dynamics at Board Level for this.

Our approach is rooted in psychoanalytic and systems thinking. You won't just study group dynamics, you'll experience them, in real time, with your cohort.

Led by Dr Eliat Aram, CEO and Chartered Director, and Dr Mannie Sher.

"Almost like magic, I suddenly began to recognise and understand my own dynamics." Zeina Akl, 2024

"Real dynamics at board level in an experiential setting." Arjen Kuijper, HR Director and board member, 2024

Four modules across the year, beginning in July. The early bird saving is £1,500 for applications before 18 May.

A certificated programme on effective board leadership: acquire insights into group dynamics, unconscious processes, and emotional intelligence.

19/03/2026

As AI reshapes our workplaces and social worlds, everyone is talking about how to keep the human in the loop, how to protect human capacity and maintain trust and shared purpose.

We are not surprised that this is difficult. Tavistock researchers researched and consulted to industry during the mechanisations and turbulence of the post World War Two period, in the UK, India, Mexico, South Africa. We saw human systems falter in the face of new technology, in coalmines, cotton mills, banks and manufacturing plants.

The rich and exciting theoretical framework we called systems psychodynamics developed over seven decades to help organisations work with changes.

Systems psychodynamics as it is now addresses the interplay between psychological forces and systemic structures within organisations. Our Futures Lab draws on that heritage to enable you to imagine, practice and sustain high-performance human/AI integration within your organisation.

We've just launched two new collaborations founded on systems psychodynamics, dedicated to inquiry into Human-AI dynamics:

▶️ Dynamics in Human/AI teams: a 12-week consulting package with Elevate4 to build the capacity of work teams to think, relate and make decisions together.

▶️ The Room: a new leadership circle for senior executives navigating the business impact of AI

We'd be glad to hear from organisations ready to explore with us.

Research, consulting and professional development to help individuals and organisations navigate complexity and change.