Working with others can be exhilarating and it can be trying. We know that when we work with others  “how” we do the work is of equal or more importance to “what” work we do. Yet working in difficult conditions and fraught environments as activists, professionals, leaders and workers, we can encounter intractable group and organizational problems which are difficult to make sense of never mind overcome.

At ICI, we believe that making sense of these difficulties is key to creating the change we want to see in our communities and organizations, and that we can do so – or at least begin to do so - by better understanding ourselves, each other, and how we work together. By improving our understanding of how unconscious forces affect groups and they us, we can improve our own impact, develop our leadership capacity, and increase our capacity to a better world.

ICI's trainings, based on the group relations method developed by the UK-based Tavistock Institute, offer opportunities to learn about the nature and emergence of difference, leadership and authority in groups. This requires exploring the connection between our inner worlds (thoughts, fantasies) and outer worlds (context and environments) and sharing those connections. Using a variety of didactic sessions, small and large group sessions, storytelling, and role analysis, we link the learnings from the event to your organization and context.

ICI’s training offers opportunities to:

• Increase effectiveness by understanding difference and people-in-context
• Observe group behaviour in the here-and-now and understand how they appear in your organization
• Develop your leadership capacity
• Understand how your leadership style affects the group
• Learn about "under the surface" forces that impact people, groups and organizations.

ICI is a collaboration between Bureau Kensington, Inc, PARC (Parkdale Activity and Recreation Centre), University of Toronto Student Life, and West Neighbourhood House.