Learning at the edges between knowing and not-knowing

Simpson, P. and French, R. (2001) Learning at the edges between knowing and not-knowing: Translating Bion. Organisational and Social Dynamics, 1 (1). pp. 54-77. ISSN 1474-2780 Available from: http://eprints.uwe.ac.uk/21976 We recommend you cite the published version. The publisher’s URL is: http://www.karnacbooks.com/JournalOPUS.asp Refereed: Yes (no note)

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Organisational & Social Dynamics 1: 54-77 (2000)

Learning at the Edges between Knowing and Not-knowing: Translating Bion ^ 7

1

Robert French* and Peter Simpson To come to what you know not you must go by a way where you know not. St John of the Cross (The Ascent of Mount Carmel, I; 13: 11.) In order to arrive at what you do not know

You must go by a way which is the way of ignorance.

T.S. Eliot (East Coker, p. 201) And this gray spirit yearning in desire

To follow knowledge like a sinking star,

Beyond the utmost bound of human thought.

Alfred, Lord Tennyson (Ulysses, in Albery 1994, p. 306) better discuss no further, since we are in the dark

Job

*

*

*

Learning arises from w o r k i n g at the edges between k n o w i n g and not knowing. This idea is a direct 'translation' from Wilfred Bion's thinking about psychoanalytic method into the context of our o w n w o r k as teachers, consultants, researchers a n d writers. In their book o n Bion's clinical thinking, Symington and Symington (1996, p. 3) summarise the point very succinctly. They write that the 'only assumption' u n d e r l y i n g Bion's thinking was that 'the m i n d grows through exposure to truth' (their

* A d d r e s s for correspondence: Bristol Business School, U n i v e r s i t y of the West of E n g l a n d , Frenchay C a m p u s , C o l d h a r b o u r Lane, Bristol BS16 1 Q Y . T h i s article is d u e to appear i n a v o l u m e entitled ' B u i l d i n g o n B i o n ' , e d . M . Pines and R. L i p g a r , Jessica Kingsley Publishers. It w a s first presented as a paper at the S y m p o s i u m of the International Society for the Psychoanalytic Study of Organizations, Toronto, June 1999. +

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TRANSLATING' BION

55

italics). B y g r o w t h of m i n d , he meant the ability to act more consistently and rigorously i n relation to truth. W h i l e 'learning' equates w e l l to Bion's 'growth of m i n d ' , our translation of 'exposure to truth' as ' w o r k i n g at the edges between k n o w i n g and n o t - k n o w i n g ' requires more careful explanation. Bion used the symbol ' K ' to represent ' k n o w i n g ' and the symbol ' O ' to represent his notion of 'truth' w h i c h , i n direct contrast to K , he defined as both u n k n o w n and unknowable. O is often rather grand iosely described — following Bion himself, it must be said — as ultimate reality, ultimate truth, the godhead or, i n Bion's b o r r o w i n g from M i l t o n , as the 'formless infinite' (1984a, p. 31). A s Eigen (1998) writes: ' O can be the ultimate reality of a session, emotional truth of a session, g r o w t h of the experience of an analysis, the ultimate reality of the personality. It can be creatively explosive, traumatically w o u n d i n g , crushingly uplifting' (p. 78). Bion's notion of O becomes more accessible, however, — and more usable — w h e n another aspect is brought into play: that the truth of O is also 'imminent' (1984b, p. 147); that is, O is truth or reality in the present. O is the reality of the here and n o w , what w e refer to as 'truth in-the-moment'. Hence his description of the encounter between analyst and patient as 'the intersection of an evolving O w i t h another evolving O ' (1984a, p. 118). By definition, it is not possible intellectually to k n o w the full reality of each passing instant: ' O does not fall i n the d o m a i n of knowledge or learning save incidentally; it can be "become", but it cannot be " k n o w n " ' (Bion 1984a, p. 26). H o w e v e r , it is Bion's assumption that exposure to truth-in-the-moment can lead to growth of m i n d . Such truth is, therefore, w o r t h pursuing because it has an impact upon us and can inspire learning, even though it remains unknowable and u n k n o w n . Our assumption is that w o r k i n g at the edges between k n o w i n g and not-knowing offers the possibility for exposure to truth-in-the-moment, hence opening up the potential for learning. The edge is important because whilst the truth-of-the-moment never enters the d o m a i n of k n o w i n g , it is through encounters at the edge that w e may be subject to its influence. It could be argued, for example, that such things as the gardener's 'green fingers', the painter's brush stroke, the actor's gesture, the confident tennis stroke, the consultant's intervention, or indeed the scientist's insight, depend on being i n touch w i t h truth-in-the-moment. In none of these situations can the moment of insight be either con trolled or predicted. The knowledge gained is a 'gift', rather i n the w a y a forgotten name is often remembered or the solution to a mathematical problem is 'discovered', only w h e n one stops thinking about it.

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ROBERT F R E N C H a n d PETER SIMPSON

TRADITIONS O F THIS

IDEA

O u r understanding of the nature of n o t - k n o w i n g a n d of its positive value for our w o r k has been formed i n exploring the interaction between ancient tradition and Bion's thinking. This exploration has been enhanced by the fact that Bion himself explicitly w o r k e d w i t h some of these same traditions, as represented b y Meister Eckhart, St John of the Cross, the Bhagavad Gita, poetry, philosophy a n d the Bible. Bion's use of ' O ' to denote present but u n k n o w a b l e truth, for example, echoes the use of the circle i n the Z e n discipline of painting (see figure 1), i n w h i c h O is regarded as 'an expression of enlight enment — a n experience of completeness — at each m o m e n t ' (Tanahashi, 1994, p . ix; also Schneider, 1994, p. x v i i i . ) The truth-in-the-moment of the Z e n master's brushstroke (Herrigel, 1988) is also the 'nothing' of Meister Eckhart (Smith, 1987, pp. 68-9) and the nada (nothing) of St. John of the Cross w h i c h is the beginning and end of knowledge. In Bion's v i e w the very capacity to think develops from the infant's experience of absence, of 'no-thing' w h i c h , w e l l e n o u g h contained, can become a thought (Bion, 1962, p. 31-7; S y m i n g t o n and Symington, 1996, p. 102-3). 1

Figure 1 (from Tanahashi a n d Schneider, 1994).

TRANSLATING' BION

57

The centrality to h u m a n development of the unknowable truth of O is w e l l illustrated i n the icon paintings of the Eastern Orthodox tradition (Ouspensky and Lossky, 1982; Temple, 1990). Icon images are quite familiar outside the East, from book cover illustrations or from Christmas cards. What is probably less familiar, however, is that these images can be read as an early example of 'organizational role analysis' (Armstrong, 1997; Reed, 1976). In the case of the icon, the organization is the cosmos, and the role being depicted is the cosmic role of the h u m a n agent: that is, our role i n relation to O , to the unknowable and u n k n o w n . The modern eye tends to focus o n story or o n the historical accuracy of events, also o n colour as decoration and on the authenticity of the emotional impact. In a sense, however, none of these matters i n icons — even the story, at least as history: 'The icon never strives to stir the emotions of the faithful. Its task is not to provoke i n them one or another natural h u m a n emotion, but to guide every emotion as w e l l as the reason a n d all the other faculties of h u m a n nature on the w a y towards transformation' (Ouspensky, 1982, p. 39). Everything has its impact and gains its meaning from the symbolic sense: T n the art of icons, it is content that is the criterion of form' (Burckhardt, 1982, p. 7). W h a t is represented i n figure 2, for example, symbolically represents a ladder similar to the ladder of Jacob's dream. L i k e the ladder i n Jacob's dream, this is a ladder between heaven and earth, stretching from the hand of G o d i n the top corner to the rocky earth at the bottom, and right d o w n to the cave i n the corner, representing the lowest place of existence, 'the dark place i n ourselves where G o d has not yet entered' (Temple, 1990 p. 132). A double movement is portrayed, therefore: starting w i t h G o d w e can see his power, i n the form of the D i v i n e Ray, being transmitted through the h u m a n to the earth. Here, by submitting himself to G o d ' s power, the saint is able to master the power and strength represented i n different forms both by the white horse and b y the dragon. The dragon is not killed but mastered — and i n many such icons almost seems to look l o v i n g l y at the saint as though g l a d l y a c k n o w l e d g i n g his superiority. This movement on the 'ladder' can, however, also be reversed: humans are b o r n i n the darkness of the cave, Bion's Ur-catastrophe, perhaps (Eigen, 1993). (Icons of the nativity generally portray Christ's birthplace as a cave, caves also being seen as 'focal points for the exchange of cosmic energies' [Pherykedes i n Temple, 1990, p. 21].) W e then have w o r k to do, w o r k of understanding, development and self control, i n order to master or come to terms w i t h the powerful forces represented by the horse and the dragon (the id, perhaps). O n l y then

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ROBERT FRENCH and PETER SIMPSON

Figure 2 (St George Kilting the Dragon, in W e i t z m a n n , et al. 1982, p. 328).

can w e begin the transitional or transformational w o r k , w h i c h is required at the edge between the k n o w n earthly realm and the u n k n o w n spiritual realm. So the icon's function is to d r a w our attention to the edge at w h i c h w e m a y have some contact w i t h the D i v i n e a n d to our unique role i n w o r k i n g at that edge. The image and the movement depicted are equally 'true' i n terms of the i n d i v i d u a l psyche or the relationship

TRANSLATING' BION

59

between the i n d i v i d u a l and the h u m a n community, or humanity and the rest of the natural w o r l d . The very formalised style of icons, w h i c h can seem so static and foreign to the modern eye, should not b l i n d us to the fact that the experience or reality they depict is far from static. The edge is not reached once and for all, but must instead be the object of constant attention i n each and every present moment. In a w a y that is very similar to psychoanalysis, the practice of the mystical traditions to w h i c h icon painting belongs, depends on a training w h i c h involves particular forms of 'spiritual exercise' (Hadot, 1995). The purpose of these exercises, whether for the contemplative or, i n Bion's v i e w at least, for the psychoanalyst, is to develop a level of awareness and attention that can make possible moments of insight into or from the unknowable u n k n o w n . Access to truth-in-the-moment depends o n the development of this state of awareness and attention.

PARALLELS TO BION The hand of G o d , w h i c h appears i n the centre or one of the top quadrants of m a n y icons, is accompanied b y a segment of a circle, rather like a section from a halo. In diagrammatic form, the energy of development i n the icon of St George (figure 2) moves from the hand of

Figure 3.

60


Figure 4.

God through the saintly figure — represented in figure 3 below by the saint's halo — to the earth. If one were to finish this diagrammatic representation of the icon image, therefore, by filling out the circle — always left incomplete by the painter — the symbolic truth would be made explicit (see figure 4). The movement of the 'Divine Ray' is from the 'completeness-at-each moment' of O, the divine realm, the unknowable unknown, to the misshapen 'O' of the primal cave. To work at this movement leads to growth of mind through exposure to truth, and each movement of development inevitably exposes another edge, where the encounter with our not-knowing or ignorance and limitation, may block us or free us to further growth. The very incompleteness of the circle at the top of the icon is clearly significant: it indicates the impossibility of finding any adequate way of representing 'heaven', the divine realm, the 'formless infinite' of Bion's O. The darkness of the cave, on the other hand, suggests the incomprehensibility of infantile emotional experience, that is, Bion's 'beta elements': 'initial catastrophic globs of experience', 'raw material, primal thoughts, nonthoughts, mindless hallucinatory globs' (Eigen, 1993, p. 216 & 217). There is another striking, if somewhat fanciful, pictorial parallel in Bion's work. His 'Grid' — 'a method I have found useful in thinking

TRANSLATING' BION

Nota tion

Atten tion

3

4

61 Inquiry Action

Defini tory hypo theses 1

2

A tl-elements

A1

A2

B a-elements

B1

B2

B3

B4

B5

B6

...Bn

C1

C2

C3

C4

C5

C6

...Cn

D1

D2

D3

D4

D5

D6

...Dn

Conception

E1

E2

E3

E4

E5

E6

...En

F Concept

F1

F2

F3

F4

F5 . F6

...Fn

C

Oream thoughts, dreams, myths 0

Pre-conception E

G

Scientific deductive system

5

6

...n.

A6

G2

H

Algebraic calculus

F i g u r e 5.

about problems that arise i n the course of psycho-analytic practice' (Bion, 1963, p. 6) — could be thought of as a v i s u a l representation of the movement from the 'cave' of b l i n d ignorance to ' O ' , the u n k n o w a b l e truth. It is interesting to 'read' the G r i d (see Figure 5) rather as w e have suggested icons s h o u l d be read; that is, to take the form as the key to the whole. If one tries merely to understand whether a particular event or interaction belongs i n B3 or C 4 , then the focus is o n the content of each i n d i v i d u a l 'box'. If, however, the G r i d is turned o n its side — and overlaid w i t h the earlier diagrammatic icon image — (see Figure 6) it too could be seen as representing a k i n d of ladder l i n k i n g 'earth' and 'heaven'; i n this case, stretching from the earth or cave of Bion's beta elements u p the ladder of successively higher level abstract conceptua lisations — i n the direction of an always unattainable truth. If there is

62


Figure 6,

also a reverse movement, it is stimulated b y the impact of any encounter w i t h the truth: the truth is always available, a n d the m i n d inevitably grows w h e n exposed to it. This reading of Bion's G r i d highlights the importance of 'edges' and of movement; for example the movement across the edge between 'conception' and 'concept', or between inquiry and action. A s develop ment always involves movement u p the 'ladder', the boxes themselves can become a distraction or a seduction, if we become preoccupied w i t h h o w things are to the exclusion of what they are becoming. The focus of our w o r k has to be o n the intersection of evolving Os, that is, on the edges where k n o w n meets u n k n o w n i n our shared experience. A s i n Goethe's Faust , what matters is g r o w t h of m i n d rather than attainment, that is, the ability to strive constantly to find a new edge without 'someone w h o K N O W S filling the empty space' (Bion, 1991, p. 578). 2

'TRANSLATING' BION

63

THE EMOTIONAL EXPERIENCE OF THE EDGE It is important to emphasise that the experience of reaching the edge of our k n o w i n g can be unsettling as w e l l as stimulating a n d fruitful. It can, as a result set i n m o t i o n w e l l - w o r n defensive routines. The edge is not a comfortable place to be. The image (see Figure 7) from an etching by P a u l Klee shows v i v i d l y the tensions and defences that the experience of the edge of not k n o w i n g can evoke. It is entitled: T w o m e n meet, each supposing the other to be of higher rank', and clearly the t w o m e n have a real problem. A l l the usual marks of recognition that w o u l d help them to k n o w — to k n o w w h o the other is a n d therefore h o w to behave — all these signals have been removed w i t h the removal of their clothes: 'It is an interesting question h o w far m e n w o u l d retain their relative rank if they were divested of their clothes. C o u l d y o u , i n such a case, tell surely of any c o m p a n y of civilised men, w h i c h belonged to the most respected class?' (Thoreau, 1910, p. 18.) In the visual language of icons — a n d Klee's entirely non-specific, rocky background is very reminiscent of an icon — clothing is used to depict the inner state of a person. The removal of clothes or outer garments can therefore signify a psychological change of state, a transition from what is outer and seen to what is covered and w i t h i n . The problem for Klee's t w o men, however, is that they cannot give u p

Figure 7 (Klee: 'Zwei Manner einander in hdherer Stellung vermutend, begegnen sich.' i n Jaffe, H. L., 1972, p. 13).

64


their h o l d o n k n o w i n g . Their transition to what is w i t h i n s i m p l y uncovers their state of inner dependency o n k n o w i n g . Completely thrown, therefore, b y not k n o w i n g and b y the resulting anxiety, each tries to outdo the other i n the depth of their b o w i n g . The emphasis i n Klee's title o n 'higher rank' clearly directs us to the picture's social critique. H o w e v e r , this should not obscure the fact that at every level w e clothe ourselves w i t h our k n o w i n g . So although w e m a y feel somewhat superior to these ridiculous looking elderly men, their anxiety and deep b o w i n g is precisely what can happen to us every time w e b u m p unexpectedly against the edge of our ignorance. N o t to k n o w even the littlest thing can make one question one's competence — and even identity. Just at the moment w h e n w o r k i n g at the edges between k n o w i n g a n d not-knowing can allow space for a new thought, it can also let i n the anxiety of one's nakedness. ORDINARY WORK A T THE EDGE

In our experience, the remarkable thing about w o r k i n g at the edges between k n o w i n g and not-knowing is that whilst at times it can appear esoteric or mystical — that is, exfra-ordinary — it is also, at times, very ordinary a n d practical. For example, d u r i n g a recent role analysis consultation, m y [RF's] client said: "I want to ask y o u a question. D o y o u think I'm naive?" T w o people h a d told h i m that he was naive and he had clearly experienced this as an accusation. H e was n o w seeking some k i n d of reassurance. I was hesitant but said a few things, feeling as I d i d so that I was just stalling till I c o u l d find something useful to say. For the first time, however, — and as a direct result of being engaged i n t h i n k i n g a n d w r i t i n g about the ideas i n this article — I became consciously aware both that I d i d not k n o w what was going o n and that I could actually choose to w o r k as though m y ignorance might be the indicator of a potentially creative edge. So I assumed for a moment not that I k n e w — k n e w the client, his presenting problem (that is, naivety) or the solution (reassurance) — but, instead, that I d i d not k n o w and nor d i d he. This is clearly a very limited context and a really very everyday encounter. W e were not dealing w i t h 'ultimate reality'. H o w e v e r , the imminent truth of that moment was indeed that neither of us k n e w what w e were talking about — and acknowledging that brought about a n immediate change. The recognition of not-knowing enabled us to explore w h a t 'naive' might actually mean to each of us — and to the t w o others, his wife and an aggressively competitive male colleague. For example, w h y d i d he assume that to be called naive was derogatory

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65

rather than, say, a h i g h compliment? T h e shift away from our naive assumption that we knew what we meant, opened u p the possibility for learning i n several areas: his o w n personal a n d professional history, his expectations

of me, of his father, a n d of his o w n

manager

and

colleagues, a n d , as a result, in relation to the leadership a n d manage ment dimensions of his o w n role.

NAIVE VERSUS POLITICAL:

WORKING WITH PARALLEL TRUTHS

The attempt to w o r k at the edge of uncertainty demands what might be called a 'sophisticated naivety'. This state of m i n d is reminiscent of the comment attributed to Picasso to the effect that he h a d learned b y the age of 16 to paint as well as an old master but it took h i m another 30 years to learn to paint like a child. The naivety our work demands is the ability to be alive to the impact of each new moment, as though 'born again' in each instant: 'naive' being derived from the Latin verb 'to be b o r n ' . Bion's view of analytic work with patients was that 'The only point of importance i n any session is the u n k n o w n ' (Bion, 1967, p. 272). This is a radical expression of sophisticated naivety. If 'naivety' involves openness to truth-in-the-moment, the 'sophisti cation' required is the ability at the same time to remain i n touch with context a n d , as a result, to maintain the ability to differentiate between 'truths'. E v e n i n i n d i v i d u a l work, 'an analyst can not cover all possible meanings of any moment' (Eigen, 1998, p. 66). W o r k i n g with groups and organizations, or even with an i n d i v i d u a l in an organizational role, involves m a n y additional layers of complexity. 'Sophisticated' naivety therefore requires us to recognise that there are indeed m a n y truths in every moment: ' T o a certain extent, one can select what O to focus o n w h e n ' (ibid., p. 78). A great part of the skill of the teacher, for example, is to recognise a n d respond to the truth at any particular moment that will most effectively further the a i m operating at that moment. The extreme complexity this involves arises from the fact that the truth of any moment can involve m a n y potentially conflicting emotional, intellec tual a n d / o r political needs: of an i n d i v i d u a l or individuals, of a sub group w i t h i n a class or of the whole class, of a colleague or group of colleagues, or of the wider system of department, school or university, or of the local or national community. The excitement and inspiration of the teachers portrayed in the films ' D e a d Poets' Society' a n d 'The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie' come from a naivety w h i c h is radical but not sophisticated: their single-minded belief leads them to pursue only one

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truth. In both films, the ultimate death of a p u p i l symbolises most graphically the dangers inherent i n the exclusion of other 'truths'. Our suggestion that naivety m a y be opposed to politics is an attempt to capture the complexity of all group and organisational w o r k that incorporates a psychoanalytic understanding of h u m a n relations. The ability to select among available truths-in-the-moment depends on the ability to w o r k at the edges between k n o w i n g and not-knowing; that is, to recognise a variety of edges, one's o w n and the client's, and to recognise limitations as w e l l as possibilities. For example, an edge we see as important, m a y be a step too far for the client. Resistance from a client m a y be a defensive attempt to avoid facing u p to a difficult truth, but it m a y also indicate that w e have reached an edge of insight into a previously u n k n o w n area w h i c h interests us w h i l e the client is, as it were, heading a different w a y and has a different agenda. Entry to the u n k n o w n or not-yet k n o w n m a y , o n the one h a n d , release an i n d i v i d u a l or group into new areas of creativity or, o n the other, make any further w o r k i n g relationship w i t h the client impossible. A recent case example m a y illustrate some of these layers of tension between the naivety w h i c h can open u p a fuller v i e w of the broad emotional, practical, intellectual and political truth-of-the-moment, and the parallel, contingent political truth w h i c h m a y exclude further exploration. Recently I [PS] was approached by a manager w h o k n e w he h a d a problem — a team w h i c h was not functioning properly — a n d was motivated b y a desire — to remove the p r o b l e m by getting the team to w o r k the w a y he wanted. H o w e v e r , he d i d not k n o w h o w to achieve his a i m : he h a d come to the edge of his k n o w i n g . H e therefore d i d what m a n y w i l l d o i n such a situation: he looked for someone, an expert, w h o w o u l d k n o w h o w to get what he wanted. Some members of his team h a d w o r k e d previously w i t h Bristol Business School and so he approached me for some Team B u i l d i n g consultancy. The problem was that I d i d not k n o w h o w his a i m might be achieved either, nor whether his analysis of the situation was accurate — whether w h a t he wanted w o u l d be w h a t he needed. A s is typical of such instances, it turned out that the situation was indeed m u c h more complex than the manager himself realised. I first conducted a series of diagnostic interviews to try to assess the state of this malfunctioning team — and then spent the subsequent weekend i n a state of h i g h anxiety, h a v i n g been brought very clearly to the outer edge of m y k n o w i n g and, as a result, also feeling at the edge of m y competence. H o w e v e r , I could not give u p the desire to k n o w . I could not get the project out of m y m i n d , and tried to find a 'constructive' way to approach it. I saw constantly i n front of m y eyes a single

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sentence, spoken by P h i l , the manager, w h i c h I h a d written at the top of one page: " M a r t i n is a p r o b l e m . " It was so clearly right, partly because of Martin's stance and personality, but partly also because he was being scapegoated. That m u c h was obvious, and it seemed to me important that M a r t i n was offered some i n d i v i d u a l consultancy — role analysis, perhaps — as a w a y of helping h i m to understand and to come to terms w i t h the situation. H o w e v e r , I also could not shake the dark m o o d that h a d settled u p o n me, nor could I get a w a y from the feeling that I was missing the point. W h e n I met w i t h R F o n the M o n d a y afternoon following m y troubled weekend, I talked h i m through the project. The more w e talked the greater was our sense of confusion a n d despair at ever finding an effective w a y of intervening. The sense of incompetence and m i l d panic that arises w h e n w e don't k n o w was palpable. After about an hour a n d a half, apparently out of nowhere, R F started to say again what could be done, but this time i n terms of what he w o u l d like to be able to do, if only it were possible. I felt m y dark m o o d shift. B y the time he h a d finished, w e had both realised that w e h a d become completely caught u p i n the process of the group, the splitting into positive and negative, the scapegoating of M a r t i n , and the despair about ever changing h i m . W h a t I k n e w was the historical fact that " M a r t i n is a p r o b l e m " . This knowledge stopped me from m a k i n g the necessary transformation of the truth-in-the-moment that was presenting itself to me: that the dominating pattern w i t h i n this team was of splitting a n d projection. W h a t helped us most was that w e managed to continue w o r k i n g explicitly w i t h the awareness that w e d i d not k n o w what to d o — even to the point that not only d i d w e not k n o w what to do, w e had even lost our sense of h o w to deal w i t h not-knowing. This double pit, as it were, actually forced us to w a i t for something to happen. M y subsequent w o r k w i t h this team focused largely o n encouraging them to let go of the scapegoating and to explore other possible causes for the blockages i n their w o r k together — for example, an over dependence u p o n the manager, a lack of ability w i t h i n the team to self direct, a n d a huge reluctance to allow each other to make mistakes i n leadership. H o w e v e r , I realised at the end of this piece of w o r k that I h a d based m y approach o n a false assumption: I h a d assumed w e all shared a desire to f i n d a n d w o r k at u n k n o w n a n d p e r h a p s uncomfortable truths. This s i m p l y was not the case. M y o w n interest i n engaging w i t h the truth, whatever it m i g h t be, a l l o w e d me a degree of naivety that helped me to recognise some interesting and potentially important issues and dynamics. O n the other hand, m y lack of sophistication b l i n d e d me to the political truth-in-the-moment, that the manager and I had different commitments. H i s interest i n developing a

ROBERT F R E N C H and PETER SIMPSON

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self-managing team seemed to end at the point where the team might want to do something of w h i c h he disapproved. Put bluntly, he wanted them — collaboratively a n d independently — to reach the decisions he favoured. If they d i d not, he w o u l d almost certainly resort to telling them what to do.

STAYING AT THE EDGE: A NECESSARY DISPOSITION W e have come to realise that in the all too rare moments w h e n w e are able not only to recognise that we have come to an edge but also to stay w i t h the experience of not-knowing, we really do not know whether we are doing something or whether something is being done to us. D o we reach for the truth-in-the-moment, or does the truth reach for us? In the same w a y that Bion wrote of ' " t h o u g h t s " i n search of a thinker' (Bion, 1984c, final words), might we think in terms of ' " t r u t h " i n search of a seeker'? Reaching the edge of not-knowing and recognising it as such is one thing; staying there is quite another. If k n o w i n g does not keep us there, what does? A l t h o u g h the w o r d may not be the best one, we think of this element, to use an ancient term, as a 'disposition' — that is, a state of m i n d , a w a y of being, a w a y of attending to experience. It is this disposition that allows one to bear the experience of encountering an edge. In writing about his o w n personal and intellectual development, for example, Paul Tillich chose the image of the 'boundary' to symbolise this experience of living at the edge between knowing a n d not-knowing: The boundary is the best place for acquiring knowledge. . . . Since thinking presupposes receptiveness to new possibilities, this position [between alternative possibilities for existence] is fruitful for thought; but it is difficult and dangerous in life, which again and again demands decisions and thus the exclusion of alternatives. This disposition and its tension have determined both my destiny and my work. (Tillich, 1967, p. 13.) Some people m a y be more naturally disposed to living o n the edge than others, rather in the w a y the 'capacity for tolerating frustration' — to w h i c h this disposition may be related — varies from one person to another (see for example Bion, 1962). In addition, m a n y other factors influence the development of the disposition to stay at an edge and the value attributed to doing so — from the individual's experience as an infant through to the broad culture of a society, community or organization. Because the experience of the edge tends to provoke anxiety, for example, a group or organization can develop ways of being, relating a n d acting, w h i c h are designed unconsciously to protect

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them against the recognition of the limits to their knowledge. Defensive habits can then become built into patterns of organizing, both into organizational roles and structures and into w a y s of relating. This is one w a y of understanding the development of 'social defences against anxiety' (Jaques, 1955; Menzies, 1960) or, from the perspective of systems theory, of systems archetypes (Senge, 1990). One of the difficulties of even talking about the disposition required to stay at the edge of one's knowledge — and it is a difficulty w e have faced throughout the process of w r i t i n g this article — is that it is so easy to slip into m a k i n g the experience of being at the edge sound acceptable. The uncertainties aroused b y the encounter w i t h not k n o w i n g can indeed be exciting and can provoke significant learning. H o w e v e r , as P a u l Klee's image illustrated, they are often unsettling and anxiety-provoking, confusing and even terrifying. They can inspire a sense of incompetence and loss of control, and can obliterate a l l sense of role and identity and of the task i n hand. The practical, political and emotional pressures o n us to know are constant a n d almost irresistible. It is hard to be called 'ignorant' and to take it as a compliment, despite the fact that there is a long tradition, w h i c h asserts the opposite: ' H o w can he remember w e l l his ignorance — w h i c h his g r o w t h requires — w h o has so often to use his knowledge?' (Thoreau, 1910, p . 4). The disposition w h i c h equates growth of m i n d w i t h ignorance has taken m a n y forms, from Freud's 'evenly suspended attention' a n d Keats' 'Negative Capability' to the 'yoga of k n o w l e d g e ' i n the Bhagavad Gita. A l l of these appear i n Bion's work. It is not by chance that one metaphor to describe the emotional experience of n o t - k n o w i n g is of a cloud — not as v i e w e d from a comfortable distance, but w i t h the disorientation and panic one can experience w h e n lost i n the fog — the 'cloud of u n k n o w i n g ' (Walsh, 1981). Another image is of a dark night — the 'dark night of the s o u l ' (Bion, 1984b, pp. 158-159). This is not, however, a night as w e k n o w the night i n o u r electrified and urbanised experience. It is a truly bewildering and terrifying night, where nothing can be seen, where there are no clear roads as w e k n o w them, and where there are, b y contrast, real dangers to safety and even to life. This is the basis for Bion's comment that 'In every consulting r o o m there ought to be t w o rather frightened people: the patient and the psychoanalyst. If they are not one wonders w h y they are bothering to find out what everyone knows.' (Bion, 1990, p. 5.) The challenge is to stay w i t h the moment rather than to retreat into what Needleman, i n an idea reminiscent of Bion's notion of basic assumptions, has called 'dispersal' (Needleman, 1990, p. 167). Dispersal 3

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manifests as a flight from the anxiety of the meeting w i t h the u n k n o w n into explanation, emotion or physical action. The method of w o r k i n g at the edges of our not-knowing therefore depends on developing an awareness of one's o w n particular valency for dispersal, as w e l l as of the strategies of others. Such w o r k requires a training and awareness equivalent to, though not the same as, that of the analyst. To put it most simply, the disposition required to stay at the edge of uncertainty is one of waiting: 'such " w a i t i n g , " however, is not dead or inert but intensely alive and accurate i n its shifting sense of where the patient [client, student] is m o v i n g . ' (Eigen, 1983, p. 12.) It is 'an attitude of pure receptiveness . . . an alert readiness, an alive w a i t i n g ' (ibid., p. 326). It is a state of openness almost identical to 'the prayer of faith', St John of the Cross's first step i n contemplation: ' m y counsel is — learn to abide w i t h attention i n loving waiting upon G o d in the state of quiet.' (The Ascent of Mount Carmel II, Chapter 12: 11; see also Butler, 1926, p. 14.)

T R A D I T I O N S

O F THIS

S T A T E

O F

M I N D

Bion a n d Winnicott both learned to wait: 'to wait and wait for the natural evolution of the transference arising out of the patient's g r o w i n g trust i n the psychoanalytic technique and setting' (Winnicott, 1980, p. 101). A s the Symingtons put it: 'To the question " H o w is the analyst to penetrate through the sensuous to the psychic reality?", Bion's answer is that he waits until a pattern begins to emerge and then he intuits the psychic reality.' (Symington and Symington, 1996, p. 178; italics i n original.) T o describe this 'alive waiting', Bion used the everyday term 'patience', intending it to 'retain its association w i t h suffering a n d tolerance of frustration'. W i t h it he described the ability of the analyst 'to be aware of the aspects of the material that, however familiar they may seem to be, relate to what is u n k n o w n both to h i m and to the analysand. . . . A n y attempt to cling to what he k n o w s must be resisted . . . ' (Bion, 1984a, p. 124.) To wait can, however, be the hardest thing to do. Consultant, manager, teacher — and even, ironically, researcher — are all roles where one is inevitably perceived as 'the subject w h o is supposed to k n o w ' (Lacan, 1979, p. 232). The fear induced by the sense of not k n o w i n g what one is doing really is of catastrophe — possibly as a nameless disaster, but probably as a very obvious one: of one's incompetence revealed, accompanied by a loss of self-esteem, the potential loss of the client — and hence a loss of income. U n d e r l y i n g the capacity for patience, for alive waiting, is the capacity for faith, w h i c h Eigen (1993, pp. 211-225) has argued most convincingly

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is the only effective counter to the fear of catastrophe: 'Faith is openness to truth, to reality, whatever it m a y turn out to be.' (Watts, 1983, p. 40; see also Simpson, 1997.) Bion's o w n description of the disposition necessary for staying at the edge between k n o w i n g and n o t - k n o w i n g is w e l l k n o w n : 'Discard your memory; discard the future tense of y o u r desire; forget them both, both what y o u knew and what y o u want, to leave space for a new idea.' (1980, p. 11.) In his v i e w , exposure to the u n k n o w n truth-in-the moment demands that the analyst bracket out not only memory and desire, but also understanding and sense perception (1984a, p. 43) — even the desire for understanding or the desire for 'cure' (1967, p. 273). This is w h y Bion was attracted to Keats' notion of 'Negative Capability' (for example, 1978, p. 8; 1984a, p. 125). Keats was describing the poet's capacity to wait — and to tolerate the emotional experience of w a i t i n g i n a state of not-knowing. To have this capacity, he wrote, is to be 'capable of being i n uncertainties, Mysteries, doubts, without any irritable reaching after fact & reason.' (Keats, 1970, p. 43; see also Bate, 1964, chapter 10.). Faith i n the pursuit of truth — openness to the rich seam of learning that can be m i n e d from the pit of ignorance — can help to get one to the edge, or to recognise those moments w h e n one has, unexpectedly or more or less deliberately, reached the edge of one's k n o w i n g . In its turn, the disposition of 'alive waiting', means being able at that edge to attend to the experience of that unique moment, and to survive the encounter w i t h the limits of one's knowledge, i n order to let something new emerge, a new thought perhaps, but without any sense of certainty that it w i l l : 'be still, and wait without hope

For hope would be hope for the wrong thing; wait without love

For love would be love of the wrong thing; there is yet faith

But the faith and the love and the hope are all in the waiting.

Wait without thought, for you are not ready for thought;'

T.S. Eliot (East Coker), 1963, p. 200 A l l the traditions of this disposition describe facets of 'alive w a i t i n g ' and an orientation towards the edge of ignorance: 'the slenderest knowledge that m a y be obtained of the highest things is more desirable than the most certain knowledge obtained of lesser things' (St Thomas Aquinas, S u m m a Theologica, I, 1, 5 ad 1, quoted i n Schumacher, 1978, p. 11). They are also linked by the notion of the discipline, or askesis, of learning. Access to truth-in-the-moment m a y be uncertain, unpredict able and difficult to interpret. H o w e v e r , the disposition on w h i c h such insight depends is not r a n d o m but disciplined: 'The wise student,


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therefore, gladly hears all, reads all, and looks d o w n u p o n no writing, no person, no teaching. F r o m all indifferently he seeks what he lacks, and he considers not h o w m u c h he knows, but of h o w m u c h he is ignorant' ( H u g h of St Victor i n Illich, 1993, p. 16). In this sense, as w e have suggested above, psychoanalysis can be seen as a modern form of the tradition of training w h i c h existed i n ancient Greece and Rome, and has re-emerged i n every age i n response to the needs and philosophies of the day: the tradition of 'philosophy as a w a y of life' (Hadot, 1995), learned through the discipline of 'spiritual exercises'.

ENDING In her book ' D r a w i n g o n the right side of the brain', the author, Betty Edwards, captures the artist's problem very precisely i n terms of the d i l e m m a of k n o w i n g and not-knowing. She writes: 'The problem w i t h d r a w i n g chairs and tables, as w i t h many other things w e might want to draw, is that we know too much about them/ (Edwards, 1982, p. 106; italics i n original.) H e r w o r d s are strongly reminiscent of Bion's comment about the w a y i n w h i c h , from the very first contact w i t h a patient, the interaction between k n o w i n g and not-knowing is of central importance. In one of his lectures he said: ' A n i n d i v i d u a l comes to see me; he thinks I a m a psycho-analyst; I think he is a patient. In fact I don't k n o w . ' (Bion, 1978, p. 14.) In this article, w e have struggled w i t h t w o questions. Firstly, h o w can w e use psychoanalytic theories to bring us to the edge of a new thought? But also, secondly, h o w can w e let go of all of our theories, psychoanalytic or other, w h e n an experience of truth-in-the-moment makes us face up to our ignorance? W e w o u l d like to end w i t h a story by the Sufi poet, Idries Shah, (in Needleman and A p p e l b a u m , 1990, p. 50) w h i c h captures the heart of the emotional problems of this approach — indeed of any attempt really to apply psychoanalytic theories i n our work, whether i n the consulting room, i n the classroom or i n organizations. The story is called ' N o b o d y really knows': Suddenly realising that he did not know who he was, Mulla Nasrudin rushed into the street, looking for someone who might recognise him. The crowds were thick, but he was in a strange town, and he found no familiar face. Suddenly he found himself in a carpenter's shop. 'What can I do for you?" asked the craftsman, stepping forward. 4

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Nasrudin said nothing. "Perhaps you mould like something made from wood?" "First thingsfirst/'said the Mulla. "Now, did you see me come into your shop?" "Yes, I did." "Good. Now, have you ever seen me in your life before?" "Never in my life." "Then how do you know it is me?"

Notes 1. T h e circle has held some very similar meanings i n Western art a n d architecture.

See, for example,

Burckhardt, 1995, p p . 102-4;

C a m p b e l l , 1988, p p . 214-8; Jaffe, A . , 1964; M o o r e , 1982, p. 128. 2. In Goethe's version of Faust, the pact w i t h Mephistopheles is very Bion-like. Goethe's Faust does not 'sell his soul to the d e v i l ' unconditionally, i n exchange for being p r o v i d e d w i t h everything he might desire. Instead,

Faust's soul w i l l only be relinquished if

Mephistopheles can offer Faust a n experience w h i c h satisfies h i m : If I be quieted with a bed of ease, Then let that moment be the end of me! If to the fleeting hour I say

"Remain, so fair thou art, remain!"

Then bind me with that fatal chain,

For I will perish in that day.

Faust I, Faust's Study (iii) Werd' ich beruhigt je mich aufein Faulbett legen, So sei es gleich um mich getanl Werd' ich zum Augenblicke sagen:

Verweile dochl Du bist so schon!

Dann magst du mich in Fesseln schlagen

Dann will ich gem zugrunde gehnt

(lines 1699-1702) 3. Bion argued that what he called faith (F) is a state of m i n d that allows the analyst to use 'the piercing shaft of darkness' to shed light o n the 'dark features of the analytic situation' (1984a, p . 57). A l t h o u g h at this point he derives from Freud the idea of 'rendering oneself "artificially b l i n d ' " , he is clearly also indebted to the apophatic tradition, as expressed i n St John of the Cross's 'dark nights' of the soul a n d spirit, themselves a reworking of the 'dazzling darkness' of Dionysius the Areopagite (Louth, 1992, p. 189; Matthew, 1995; M c G i n n , 1992, p. 175-6). W i t h the need to establish

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itself as a respectably scientific pursuit i n an exoteric age, this dimension of psychoanalysis has remained perhaps necessarily under-explored, although more recently there does appear to be, alongside Bion, a revival of interest. (See, for example, A r d e n , 1985; Bettelheim, 1983; Coltart, 1985, pp. 164-175; Eigen, 1993, 1998; Milner, 1973). It has been argued by Bakan (1990) that Freud himself was directly influenced by the Jewish mystical tradition. H e may also have been indirectly influenced through the impact of his great master, Goethe, w h o was similarly inspired by these traditions and whose v i e w of science was i n radical contrast to N e w t o n i a n , reductionist approaches. (See, for example, A r d e n , 1997; Prokhoris, 1995; Stephenson, 1995.) Acknowledgemen ts For figure 2. We are grateful to the Hellenic Institute of Byzantine and PostByzantine Studies, Venice, for permission to reproduce the icon of St George Killing the Dragon. Forfigure 5. © 1970 by W. R. Bion, reproduced by permission of Mark Paterson on behalf of Francesca Bion.

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