Beyond Bart (Boundaries, Authority, Role and Task): Creative Work and the Developmental Project

Abstract

A post-industrial society and economy depends deeply on the effectiveness of creative work, particularly in research and development, and the quality of organizations that sustain it. One question we face as students of the Tavistock method is whether or not our inherited framework, often specified by the acronym BART, (Boundaries, Authority Role and Task), is adequate for our understanding this kind of knowledge work. This paper argues that it is not, and suggests that instead we need a new conception of what I am calling “developmental projects” (DPs). These projects create a novel and distinctive rhythm of work and pose a new kind of risk, which I call existential risk. In turn, this risk shapes a different constellation of anxieties and social defenses. We need to develop a working theory of the psychodynamics of knowledge work.

Keywords: Tavistock; roles; authority; task; creative work