By contrast, a transformational change is dramatic, fully recognized and a source of important outcomes. At the personal level, transformation is often identified as a “conversion” experience or a condition of “twice born” (James, 1900/1982). At an organization level, the transformation is often identified as “paradigm-shifting” (Meadows, 2025), while at a societal level, it is called a “revolution.” (Kuhn, 2012). We even find the engagement of mini-transformations in temporary settings, such as carnivals, retreats and psychotherapy offices (Miles, 1964) In many ways, Mitch’s work with Kurt Jung could be considered a mini-transformation occurring in the temporary setting of Kurt Jung’s Zurich office.
Then there is the matter of Mitch’s leadership style. Is he a transitional leader or a transformational leader. This important distinction, first drawn by James McGregor Burns (1979) sets the role of transformational leader as inspiring, visionary and goal-oriented against the role of transitional leader as stabilizing, clarifying and supporting. It seems that Mitch first served as a visionary transformational leader when founding his newspaper, but has been serving more as a wise, stabilizing transitional leader as his enterprise has moved through several challenging periods. It is interesting that his dream seems to be encouraging transformation.
Organizational Culture
It is in the interplay between Mitch’s personality and the culture of his organization that I have moved Kurt Jung beyond the traditional confines of Jungian theory. However, my expansion of Jungian theory seems completely appropriate given the role played by sensing, intuition, thinking, feeling, perceiving and judging in organizations. It is not hard to imagine that there are collective preferences in organizations just as there are among the individuals working in the organization. I am not alone in this expansion of Jungian theory. William Bridges (1990) also argues that organizations, like individuals, have a “character” shaped by the dominant personality types of their members. This organizational character influences how the group thinks, behaves, and responds to change.
In this hypothetical case study, I have imagined what the organizational culture of Mitch’s newspaper enterprise would be and what the struggles might be—just as they are in many media-based enterprises that are pulled between providing facts and offering a compelling story (D’Agata and Fingal, 2012). There is also the potential pull between the preferences of an organizational leader and the culture in which this leader must “swim.” There is also the matter of the way a leader is perceived by others working in their organization, as their perception is influenced by the culture of their organization. Kurt Jung was particularly focused on this interpersonal influence in his work with Mitch.
There is also the role played by anxiety and collective angst in an organization. Kurt Jung focuses on this role when working with Mitch. He brings up the matter of Mitch’s relationship with Frank, suggesting that the overall level of anxiety in Mitch’s organization might be exacerbating the tension between Mitch and Frank.
Many years ago, Izabel Menzies Lyth (1988) drew attention to the interplay between organizational anxiety and culture. She proposed that an organization’s culture is likely to be particularly strong when levels of anxiety are high (as they often were in the hospital she was studying). Culture is engaged to explain or justify the anxiety. Or it is engaged to somehow dampen the anxiety. We can imagine that Western Times Press’ ESTP or its potentially counter-culture (maybe INFJ, its shadow) is fully engaged when this enterprise is filled with anxiety-producing challenges or transitions.
Synchronicity and Executive Decision-Making
Finally, we turn to one of Carl Jung’s most controversial concepts: synchronicity. As proposed by Kurt Jung to Mitch Lauridsen, perceptible events may be linked together imperceptible. An “acausal” connection is established between two or more entities. Meaning and purpose are to be discovered among a variety of entities that seem unrelated to one another. At first glance, their relationship seems circumstantial. Or it is found only in the mind and heart of the observing person. However, with further exploration, there is something that ties the events together—and important guidance can be found in this exploration.
According to Jung (1960, p. 25), synchronicity “means the simultaneous occurrence of a certain psychic state with one or more external events which appear as meaningful parallels to the momentary subjective state.” The key point in this statement is that Jung finds the unifying force (the “glue”) which brings and holds external events together is to be found not in their causal relationship, but instead in one’s internal psychic state.
