Exploring the FOX diagram in 3D

Bruno BOLLE-REDDAT, in contrat CTA-O

ITAA Conference, August, 12th 2010

About the Author

I am a Transactional Analyst in the field of Organizations, under contract
since 2 years. I am a coach and a consultant supporting organizations and
management teams to help them manage change. I have been doing this
job for the past 8 years. I have been trained on Transactional Analysis, on
Berne's Theory of Organisations. and on the Systemic Approach. I am also
an associated teacher at the Cohéliance Coaching School, where I teach
individual and organizational coaching to managers, teachers, and
consultants.

Before becoming a coach, I was manager for 7 years in a start-up company

in the field of Information Technology. I have had the chance to experiment a system at the
different stages of its development lifecycle, from the moment it was created until it
disappeared. It is then that I realized that I was much more interested in the human dimension
and the complexity of the system rather than the purpose and technical aspect of the business
itself. Before becoming a manager in IT, I was a sound engineer for 7 years. I worked with artists
both on stage and in studios. Already then, intuitively, I realized the different dimensions of a
group, and the power that it can generate: seeing a crowd of individuals unifying as a result of
the energy generated by 3 or 4 individuals on stage ; I felt then that there were cues there that
could help me for my future career….

Introduction
The work of Eric Berne (1963) on the structure and dynamics of groups and organizations
1
illustrates the behaviour of groups of human beings and help understand the different elements
that are in play. The article of Elliot Fox2 provides a representation of the concepts and show
how they can be related one with another through the so-called “Fox diagram or model”. That
model has been re-used by a number of Transactional Analysts, and I have had the chance to
study it with Gilles Pellerin (TSTA-O), Jacques Moreau (TSTA-O), and Patrick Fosset (CTA-O).
From the first time I was exposed to it, I realized how incredibly powerful it is and I have been
impressed by the synthesis of systems that it offers.

After 5 years using the Fox diagram in my practice, I wanted to share my experience using this
model in establishing diagnostics and conducting interventions to support change within systems.
My working hypothesis is that there are multiple phenomena taking place at the same time
within a group, which makes their observation and the intervention of external consultants
and/or by group members quite complex. I therefore propose to visualize these different levels,
starting from the Fox Diagram, and adding a perspective in 3 dimensions, integrating the work of
Madeleine Laugeri (PTSTA-O) and of Jacques Moreau (TSTA-O). The system then becomes multi-
dimensional.

Exploring the FOX Diagram in 3D page 1 Bruno BOLLE-REDDAT - june 2010

The first dimension – the structural view
A fundamental concept from Eric Berne and re-used by Elliot Fox : every system strives to
survive as long as possible until its mission is accomplished. Elliot Fox describes 5 constitutive
elements of the structure of a group that are required for its survival:

1. The external environment

Every system exists and takes a position within a given environment. Its survival heavily
depends on the pertinence of its responses to the stimuli coming from its environment.
Traditionally, the environment of a company is made of its clients, suppliers,
competitors, partners, the law, the state/government, its market… All these elements
influence and act upon the structure in order to obtain responses from it (products,
services)

2. The group authority : the leadership

The set of functions having the decision-making power and the ability to influence the
life of the system. This leadership takes multiple forms and can be carried out by one or
multiple individuals.

3. The group authority : the canon

The set of norms and rules orchestrating the life of the group and structuring its
organization. The culture is also part of the canon, and provides a reference point to the
group for what is allowed or not, the practices and traditions from the business and the
values that are carried by the group.

4. The group membership

The human beings constituting the group, the ideology shared between them as well as
their degree of cohesion and engagement.

5. The group work

Through the group work, group members produce output, which is delivered to the
environment. Another part of the group work is all the processes that are in play in order
to ensure the survival of the group and the energy invested by the group members.

Exploring the FOX Diagram in 3D page 2 Bruno BOLLE-REDDAT - june 2010

 FOX diagram
(original version)

For more information, please refer to the article of Elliot Fox in reference.

This first view allows us to define structural elements that are necessary for the proper
functioning of the group. From this first dimension, it can be useful to verify:

• That each element are present within the structure

• That each of them are properly energized and personified
• The coherence of all elements between themselves

Example below : this structure contains more members in the leadership part than in the
production team. The canon is almost inexistent (absence of rules and objectives) whereas the
work to be performed is large in size. The incoherence between the 4 pillars of this structure
leads to a real production issue, no precise framework and an obvious lack of resources. The
survival of this structure is at stake.

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The second dimension – the dynamic view
I felt the need to add an additional perspective to the Fox diagram to highlight the multi-
dimensional aspect and the notion of flow of energy (that Fox represents with arrows across the
columns).

In this first version of the dynamic diagram, the 4 columns are viewed as 4 pillars supporting the
structure. This allows to show the flow of energy from the outside (the environment) towards
the inside (the group or organisation), going through the 4 pillars and transforming itself to be
given back to the environment. This cycle represents the life of the system, based on the laws of
elementary physics of energy transformation:

Input >> Process >> Output

Each pillar can facilitate the transformation and circulation of energy, or on the contrary, slow
it down or block it, depending on its own coherence.

Another element that can impact this energy is the distance between the 4 pillars themselves
and between them and the environment. The challenge for the system is to establish the
appropriate distances that are necessary to ensure its survival against the environment. The
right balance is specific to each system, and can be found in the distance between each pillar
that is adequate to appropriately respond to the pressure from the environment.

Too remote Too close

Waste of energy Excess of energy

(symbiosis)

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I propose to observe 10 keys distance metrics to analyze the coherence of a structure :
Nr Description
Leadership remote from its environment
: disconnect with the strategic elements
of the environment, leading to a poor or
1 inexistent vision. Absence of a strategy
and roadmap to address the demand of
the environment
Leadership remote from the canon :
objectives are inexistent or unclear, with
no link to the strategy, lack of rules,
organization not formalized. The leader
2 either does not take the culture into
account, or does not leverage it
The canon remote from the members :
there is a gap between the group
authority and the group members; there is
no transfer of energy between the 2 ,
which leads to rules not being known or
3 followed by the members. The
organization chart remains theoretical and
is not followed by the members. Individual
and collective behaviours are not based
on the culture
Leadership remote from the members :
4 individuals holding the decision making
Exploring the FOX Diagram in 3D page 5
Example
The Managing Director of a company,
exhausted by a career long of 40 years, spends
all his time playing golf. It has been a year
since he met clients, and he has lost sight of
the evolution of his market. His strategy has
become passive, the survival of the system is
at risk.
The director of an Association does not want
to be perceived as autocratic, and therefore
does not set rules and objectives. He believes
that people are adult enough to work
together without being given a framework to
operate within, as he fears this framework
might be too rigid. Rapidly, the functioning of
the Association turns into anarchy, and
tension appears between voluntary workers.
A new industrial director has just taken his
position. He put a new organization in place,
and wants to impose a culture of excellence.
After 2 months, members continue to work as
they used to, without taking into
consideration the repeated injunctions from
the new director. Members don’t feel
concerned with the change requested by the
industrial director, because they don’t see
how it would help to better respond to the
environment
Members of a commercial team are left by
themselves and haven’t had any contact with
Bruno BOLLE-REDDAT - june 2010
 authority are too remote from the
individuals performing the activity. The
absence of bound causes breakdowns in
the flow of information and of strokes,
which directly impact the level of
engagement of members in the activity
Members remote from the work :
members are laid back and are not really
engaged in getting the work done. They
don’t feel they have a role to play in the
5 proper functioning of the activity nor the
functioning of the group (no implication in
the processes)
Leadership remote from the activity :
The leadership is not engaged in the work
being carried out and in the processes on
the 3 boundaries, and does not play its
6 role of providing regulation and security
Work remote from the canon : The work
is carried out without taking the rules, the
objectives or the traditional business
7 practices into consideration. The canon
does not play its role of providing a
framework in which the activity can take
place
Canon remote from the environment :
the rules, objectives, as well as the
culture are no longer in sink with the
evolution of the legislation and the new
8 constraints imposed by the state /
government. The objectives are not
realistic when compared with the pressure
from the demand of clients and with the
competition
Members remote from the environment :
members are no longer in touch with the
elements of their environment (clients,
suppliers, competitors) and no longer
9 make the link between the value added
delivered and the purpose and “raison
d’etre” of the structure
Work remote from the environment : the
products and services offered do not meet
the demand from the environment. The
value add produced is limited or
10 inexistent.
Exploring the FOX Diagram in 3D page 6
their commercial director for more than 3
months. Everyone has organized his work his
own way, and only does what he likes.
Eventually, everyone has lost all motivation
because of the lack of feedback on his work,
and feels less and less committed towards the
objectives. Results are falling drastically
A team in charge of quality control carries out
limited controls and follow-ups on production
quality. Members of this team think that in
any case, with or without quality, this will
not change anything in the life of the
company, they will not receive more strokes,
and their pay checks will stay the same. They
are dis-engaged.
Conflicts exist between two teams in a small
family business. The managing director and
founder let it happens and does not play its
role of regulation and authority. 15 days
later, during a violent argument between two
members of the teams concerned, one of
them is seriously injured in a work accident.
The director still does not intervene…
It has now been 1 year that no objectives nor
rules have been set by the new leader of a
team of 20 people. Everyone works according
to his/her own rules and objectives, the
activity is carried out without any technical,
regulatory, nor security framework. Everyone
does what he likes.
The new ruling on the environment (la
Grenelle) in France drives significant changes
on the energy sector. A company in heating
equipments is not aware of the modifications
and opportunities this new ruling creates on
its own market. One year later it has lost 30%
of its clients base because it no longer meets
the necessary environmental quality
standards.
A manager from a supply firm in the car
industry has tried so hard to protect his
colleagues from the ups and downs of the
market that he created a watertight boundary
between them and their clients. Today, his
colleagues no longer fully understand the
demand and needs of their clients because
contacts and communication with them over
the last several months have been too limited
A company has been selling cars for a century.
It did not understand the evolution of the
needs of its clients base. All its competitors
developed a service component in their
offering, but it didn’t. One year later, it is
taken over by a European competitor because
it could not keep its position in the market
due a product offering not meeting today’s
needs
Bruno BOLLE-REDDAT - june 2010
The balance of the system is thus to be found in the coherence of the distance between the 4
pillars. Thanks to a systemic diagnostic, the consultant can propose a modeling of the key
distance metrics to allow the system itself to become conscious of its current situation and to
give it the opportunity to check whether this is adequate for what is at stake in the environment

The objective is therefore to find the right distance to allow for an optimum fluidity in the flow
and transformation of energy, in line with the requirements of the environment.

When integrating the work of Madeleine Laugeri on Emerging Change3, this gives the following
representation of the flow of energy between the pillars in 2 dimensions. This representation
highlights 3 touch points or zones of contact (the 3 contracts of Madeleine Laugeri) that are
necessary for the survival of a system :

Ref : Madeleine Laugeri – PTSTA-O

A. The energy of Planned Change. Coming from the authority of the group, it stems
from a mental representation of the environment, the identification of the figures
of authority and of the strategic element4. The Responsible Leader creates a
vision to respond to the strategic element and formalizes it in a set of
requirements that is then communicated to the Effective Leaders and the
members. In the structural diagram of boundaries, according to Eric Berne, the
touch point is the external boundary. This energy is under de responsibility of the
Leadership pillar (the vision contract according to Madeleine Laugeri).

B. The zone of dialogue. This is the point of contact between the Planned and the
Emerging, and allows the exchange of information and strokes. In the structural
diagram of boundaries, according to Eric Berne, this corresponds to the major
internal boundary. This zone is bi-directional; energy flows from A to B, from B to
A, from B to C and from C to B. This energy is under the co-responsibility of the
Leadership and the Membership pillars (the mission contracts according to
Madeleine Laugeri).

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 C. The energy of Emerging Change. Coming from the members and the activity, it
stems from the operational reality and the strategic elements of the activity. This
is the area where the energy comes out of the system, delivering products and
services to the environment. This energy is under the responsibility of the
membership pillar (the cooperation contracts according to Madeleine Laugeri).

Integrating the Fox diagram with the flow of energy from Planned and Emerging change and the
3 touch points, this provides the following view in 3 dimensions:

The third dimension – the “iceberg” view

I make the assumption that every system, as every human being, has a level of self-
consciousness at each moment in time T. That state of consciousness can be represented by the
group imago (mental representation that everyone has of the group, of his position within the
group, and of his position within the imago of the leader).I propose to represent this dimension
using the image of an iceberg (20% visible, 80% not visible) :

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The area in blue can represent the level of consciousness of the system : all elements of each
pillar that are underneath are invisible to the system (ignorance), and all elements in each pillar
that are above are visible, and therefore can be mobilized and leveraged.

That state of consciousness exists at a moment in time T. It is stored in the group imago. It can
then be modified by acting upon individual and collective representations and making visible
what is invisible.

Representation of a low level of consciousness:

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This third dimension also allows to highlight the foundations of the system: the initial impulse
that gave birth to the system5. The pillars rest on it, often in an unconscious manner. Jacques
Moreau defines the founding myth as “the initial intention of the founder (individual, family or
group) that constitutes the genesis of the creation of the system. This initial impulse, never will
we find it again, even if the founder is still present : it is the legend of the lost word”.

The founding myth is like the roots of a tree : invisible but nevertheless essential to its survival.
Becoming conscious of the founding myth of a system is sometimes difficult, but often
necessary. When the founding myth no longer works, it cannot be changed but it is vital to re-
interpret it in the context of the present moment, the current environment and the ongoing
projects.

The founding myth provides inspiration to the 4 pillars because it is the DNA of the system. The
leadership in place must be able to discover it because it drives unconscious behaviours of the
members. It can be found in the culture, in individual representations and shared values.

It is the essence of the system itself. By becoming conscious of it (the area in blue becomong
as close as possible from the founding myth), the system will be able to transcend it and
through that, leverage all hidden resources

It responds to the existentials questions of the system :

• “who are we ?”
• “Where are we become from ?”
• “Where are we going to?”
• “What are we responding to in our environment ?”
• “What is our added value ?”
• “Just do it, but for what ?”

Conclusion
Structure coaching enables systems to introduce more coherence between their 4 pillars, to
facilitate the circulation of energies and bring visible what is invisible. In my practice, I make
use of 3 steps to carry out this type of intervention :

1. Diagnostic : make the system visible and audible by the system, facilitate jumps in
consciousness so that it can realize the gaps existing between the different
perceptions coming from its elements

2. Contact : allow the leader and the members to think the system, feel it and share
the emotions that emerge. This step directly drives adjustments to the group imago
which in turn enables stronger coherence in the system

3. Contract : Facilitate the cooperation between the leaders and the members to help
themput together organizational, relational and operational solutions that will ensure
the survival of the system together (convergence)

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 CONSISTENCY + EMERGENCE = CONVERGENCE

The solution to the crisis experienced by systems, large or small, is therefore to be found within
themselves : bringing the blue area down as close as possible to the foundations to become
awakened systems mobilizing and leveraging all their resources. This is the challenge of the
managers and consultants of the second millennium.

Bruno BOLLE-REDDAT
+33 650 39 90 24
bbr@quintessence-coaching.com
www.quintessence-coaching.com

English traduction from Serge Simonet (a great TA friend of mine)

Copyleft Bruno Bolle-Reddat - http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/ - 2010

1
Berne Eric Structure and Dynamics of Organizations and Groups. J.B. Lippincott, Philadelphia 1963
2
Fox Elliot, Eric Berne’s Theory of Organizations, T.A.J., October 1975
3
Laugeri Madeleine, Changement Emergent, January 2006
4
Pellerin Gilles, Diagnostic rapide des organisations, AAT, July 1994
5
Moreau Jacques, AAT n° 130, April 2009

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