Ta’pe:t - Applied Transactional Analysis in the Workplace

I am ok - you are ok …

As I am not an exception … I struggled with the ok-ok when I came across “the Harris book”.

I did not feel or think that everything was ok, neither with me or with others. Especially not in young adulthood.

There is something really healthy in stating that things are not ok as they are, otherwise we would not change or change things.

In TA we use the concept to talk about overarching life positions. Or underlying assumptions about ourselves and the world.

What we could make more distinct is that we also have feelings of “nothing changes if I do not change”. Or we participate in marches, parades or demonstrations to speak our mind that we think that the ideas others have about us are not ok.

The illustration is from the artist and filmmaker Mike Mills and was the movie promo poster to “Thumbsucker” (2005). That is a movie about a young man and the struggle with being ok - available via streaming services.

Early summer is so beautiful - pity you cannot smell the linden blossoms..

How do Adults learn ?

And how do we enable learning ?

And what is an Adult anyway ?

When asking yourself those questions then you engage in your own learning process.

My process is to brainstorm and collect information, until I feel overwhelmed and then start to structure.

And the beauty is that so many aspects are connected and are starting discussions with the other aspects. As if Social Justice stands at the rim and shouts: And what is with me?

I learned to trust the process and that my intuition will find its way through the information to find identity. If you know what I mean by identity…

(Teaching Exam MOCK prep)

Confusion is a healthy state of mind..

Even if it feels really uncomfortable in that moment, confusion is a normal state of the learning process. Especially if you feel you do „not get it“. We recognise the facial expression of confusion as well as any other emotion, but confusion is considered to be a cognitive state, not an emotion.

I am sure we all can recall a school experience where we really did not get it (most will probably say maths, but all learning contains the possibility of confusion). And it is a good thing that we are confused, because it is scientifically proven that we learn better when there is a slight percentage of confusion in it.

So to learn and grow at work or in private, it is good if your task is having 15% of „unknown“ or „not getting it“ as this is the healthy measure where you try to find a solution and strive for complete understanding.

This is a clear case for Group Supervision, as the issues your peers will present are probably in the right percentage of your “understand/do not understand” balance. The other positive aspect is that you are not sitting alone with an impasse, but you have a collective group brain to manage the situation. That helps that you are not getting frustrated.

Being confused and not finding a solution can get all of us into a frustrated state and before we give up, we might even try harder. That is especially tough for the ones who have a voice in their head „Try harder“. Trying harder when you do not get it, might lead you back to confusion, but it is a longer way to learning. Repeated failure: you are done, fed up, not interested and throw the toy into the corner.

So if you feel confused next time, you might see this as a sign of learning occurring and an opportunity to learn with peers, as this produces more creative ideas than sitting alone with your personal drivers and feeling the breath of your personal drivers in your neck.

Best decision ever to get this pair from

Today at Folkwang Museum with an exhibition of works of Paula Rego

Dasa - Museum of Work .. when it rains and storms outside .. museums are best.

Lovely Bike Ride and Ferry Trip

In June our TA Practitioners Workshop will be about „Imagoes“, led and faciliated by James Longwell.

In this session he will explore with you Berne‘s ideas of „Private Structure“ - what is referred to as „Imago“ - a psychological model of group (team) development.

Together you will explore how working with the „third“ - in this case with objects to represent our own imagoes - as a powerful method for working with groups.

Please make sure you get your invite and joining instructions ahead of the workshop. There will be no recordings available.

Join: Open Workshop on Lifecycles of Organisations next week

The idea that organisations have lifecycles is not new. For the last 120 years, ideas got bounced around on how phenomena grow, thrive, age and fall apart. Together we will look at one of the many models of Organisational Lifecycle by Adizes. Into the different stages we will weave the ideas of Transactional Analysis from the role of the Founder, the cycle of development and the cultural dimensions.

The differentiation in the model of Adizes is that death of companies is avoidable and that OD Consultants can predict future problems today. So if you work mainly with Start-Ups or with organisations in transformation processes, you will be able to recognise and verbalise the situation after this workshop.

The focus of the workshop is to enable you with a strong metaphor and the respective toolbox as TA Practioner to enable your consultancy to land well with your clients.

Costs are reasonable and are aligned to your countries buying power, so please refer to the above link on the tab „about“. You will meet other Practioners in an open group with whom you can exchange and network. If there are any questions, please ask.

The Third

When we get or give supervision, then we usually listen to the story unfolding and it is like an itch we want to scratch, that we want to keep working with the „problem“. We all love a good problem „to solve“. But sometimes it is really important to search for „the Third“. The one who is outside of our focus when we deal with the story line. It might be the client or the organisation.

This thought came up when I looked at the Art Work called „Les Amoureux“ or „The Lovers“. You see Nikki de Saint Phalle and Jean Tiguely as a couple. What you do not see is the Artist, who is Eva Aeppli, the woman who was married to Jean Tiguely until „he exchanged one woman for another“ (as his son in law said).

So this ensemble is interesting, but by understanding „the third“, you get an idea about their relationship. Nikki and Jean married in 1971, while Eva created this piece in 1988/9. So this deepens even more our understanding about their relationship and the love they felt for each other.

Supervision is an opportunity to take a moment to step away from what you immediately see and find out about the circumstances and surroundings - so your understanding deepens.

We offer an open Group Supervision Group on a monthly basis and Individual Supervision on demand - to reasonable pricing.

Why Do Adults Want to Learn?

Just wrapped up a call with a colleague—one of those inspiring conversations about what we’ve been learning lately and where we want to grow next. After hanging up, I paused and thought: Why do we, as adults, want to learn at all?

It turns out, there are 7 powerful reasons:
1. Curiosity
We’re wired for it. That deep dive into an unexpected topic for 30 minutes? That’s our evolutionary curiosity at work.
2. Personal Growth
Learning shapes and expands our sense of self. Like the quiet pride of mastering something as simple—and empowering—as drilling your own holes in the wall.
3. Survival
In a fast-changing world, learning is essential. Just try navigating a ticket machine without updated know-how.
4. Intellectual Stimulation
Our minds crave novelty. Discovery isn’t just play—it’s how we make sense of the world intellectually.
5. Joy & Fulfillment
There’s real satisfaction in mastering something new. Like finally skiing a slope top to bottom without second-guessing why you started.
6. Connection
We learn through and with others. Conversations, reflections, shared insights—they’re all part of the journey.
7. Professional Actualisation
Learning keeps us relevant. Tools evolve (RIP Clippy!), and so must we. From Excel to modern platforms—we adapt, we grow.

So—why do you love to learn?

Let’s hear it in the comments.