Organizational cultures as holding environments: A psychodynamic look at organizational symbolism

The traditional formulation of symbols as "bundles of meaning" has supported many fine-grained analyses of organizational culture. However, it tends to obscure deeper psychodynamic elements that are essential to shaping how culture forms, develops, and dies. This paper adapts the idea of "holding environment" from Winnicott, Kegan, and others to sketch the potential contribution of such a psychodynamic perspective. An illustrative case is presented to support the argument.