Transactional Analysis: concept and significance in organizational effectiveness

Transactional Analysis: Concept and
Significance in Organizational Effectiveness
B. P. Singh, Principal Scientist
Division of Extension Education
ICAR-Indian Veterinary Research Institute
Izatnagar- 243 122

4
Managing People is the most important part
of successful management.
 Human beings are very complex, have
different personalities and different interests.
Understanding the human behaviour is
important to manage the people in
organization.
Transactional Analysis

5
Transactional Analyses
used popular terminology ,
taken from everyday language,
to explain human personality
and behaviour .
TA was developed by Eric
Berne and has been
popularized in recent years by
the writings of Thomas
Harris, Muried James and
Dorothy Jongeward.

6
 Berne developed TA in the 1950’s by
watching people interaction. He observed
that as you watch and listen to people you
can see them change before yours eyes.
There are changes in vocabulary, facial
expression, gesture and posture.
Sometimes people act like children, at
other times like adults and yet at other
times like parents.

8
 Berne notices that sometimes people plays communication
games with each other and do not come off straight. He also
observed transactions in which people engaged in smooth
communication through complementary behaviour. At
other times they crossed the communication by working
against each other.

9
The Subject matter of T.A can be conveniently divided into the
following segment for study:
1. Structural Analysis- The study of Ego states
2. Transactions-Interactions between people
3. Life positions- Self confidence and confidence in
others
4. Strokes-recognition of another's presence
5. Stamps- the study of collection of things
6. Time structuring- ways of spending time
7. Script analysis- study of life plan.

11
When we analyse the structure of our personality we find that there are, “selves
within our selves”. According to T.A. theory there are three person within all the people
i.e. Parent, Adult and Child.
These are technically known as egostates. An Egostate denotes the habitual
way of thinking, feeling and reacting. Although we can not directly observe these
egostates, we can observe the behaviour and conclude the egostate from which it is arising.
The three ego states are usually diagrammed as shown below.
P
A
C
STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS

12
STRUCTURALANALYSIS
1. The Parent Ego State
The parent ego state is developed by all the people in early
childhood up to the age of 6 years, when they absorb
certain attitudes, values , belief and ways of behaving
from parental figures- father, mother or other who raised
them. When you feel, think, or act as you saw your
parental figure act when you were little, you are in your
Parent egostate.
The parent ego state reflects the life as it is taught. Functionally, it
sets limits, give advises, discipline, protects and nurtures,
teachers how to, keeps traditions and makes rules and
regulations about how life should be: ( the do’s, don’t’s, always,
nevers, should, shouldn’ts, musts’ ought to’s, have to’s, can’ts,
good bad etc.,)

13
The Critical Parents (
C.P.) is that part of us which
sets limits and makes
judgement about ourselves and
others. Critical Parent ego state is
expressed in statement such as:
“ Nobody can leave until this
report is finished.”
“ You should exercise every
morning”
“ You don’t fight with your
boss.”

14
The Nurturing Parents (NP)
is the other part of the parent ego state. It
gives guidance, supports, protects,
nurture and teachers how -to. It is
characterized by statement such as:
“ I am sorry you are not feeling well
today, I’ll take care of your work”
“ Is there any way I can help you?”
“Let me show how deal with that.”
With their genuine concern for their co-
workers and organization, nurturing
parents or employee help to create the
climate of cooperation and dedication
where team work can flourish.

15
2. Adult Ego State :
The adult ego state behaviour is rational,
problem solving and decision making.
It is the non-feeling part of the
personality. It is the computer which
analyses the information before
generating and selecting alternatives.
Functionally it gathers the data from the
parent , adult and child , for example-
how the child feels and what he wants;
what the parents says; feels and how he
reacts;

16
what the adult has to say based on the past decision; and what one
external situation is after gathering the data it analyses and elevates
it, generates alternatives and take a decision.
It is the alert and analytical part of the personality.
The adult ego state reflect life as it is thought
It is expressed through the statement such as:
“ Has the information gathered.”
“The breeding criteria have to be set based on consumer preference.”
“What is the total rainfall in the area”
The basic vocabulary of the Adult consists of why, what, where,
when and how.

17
 The Child ego state is a set of
behaviours, thoughts and feelings
which are replayed from our own
childhood.
 The child in you is what you were
when you were very young.
 There are many children inside us
from the past.
 These children have the same
feeling and ways of behaving you
had when you were little.
 The child ego state is associated
with behaviors that are evoked
when a person is coming from an
emotional base.
The Child Ego State

18
 The Child ego state reflects the life as it is felt.
 The child ego state is the centre of feelings and energy,
the source of creativity, curiosity and intuition and site
of our early experiences including those ways we have
chosen to get attention from and get along with
authority figures.
 The child ego state is divided into three parts, Natural
Child Ego State, Adapted Child Ego State and
Little Professor Ego State.
The Child Ego State Continue…..

19
 NC is spontaneous, energetic, curious, loving and uninhibited. It is what
comes naturally and knows no rules and consequently operate without
regard for others and is unconcerned about others reactions.
 Example of Thomas Elba Edison…
 It is characterized by behavior such as joy of solving a problem, the happiness
of getting the better of someone, enjoying the feeling of comfort etc.
 The natural child is not entirely without fault.
 It can be self centered, impatient and greedy.
The Natural Child (NC):

20
Uninhibited Behaviour : The Natural Child (NC):
Mahaveer Singh Phogat ( Dangal)

21
spontaneous, energetic, curious, loving and uninhibited Behaviour : The
Natural Child (NC):
Prakashi Tomar and Chandro Tomar ( Saand Ki Aankh)

22
Sunny was a Shoe Shinner
Sunny’s mother Soma Devi,
sells balloons in the streets to
earn a living.
INDIAN IDOL 2019
energetic, uninhibited Behaviour
: The Natural Child (NC):

23
 AC acts in pattern learned from the environment.
 It is developed when you learned to change (adapt)
your feeling and behaviour in response to the
world around you. Learned feeling of guilt, fear,
anxiety, depression and envy are characterized
in the AC.
 The pride you feel when somebody praised you
for your good performance often come from the AC.
 It has two sub-parts. One is Compliance and
Rebellion:
The Adapted Child (AC)

24
 Early in life some people learn that the best way
to get along is always to say ‘yes’ ( compliance).
 Their problem in adulthood is saying ‘yes’ when their
judgement, experience and knowledge suggests that
arguing the point and asserting themselves would be
more appropriate.
 Many children only get attention when they are
naughty ( rebellious).
 Such individuals in adulthood may continue this
behaviour by seeking bosses and /or institutions ( eg.
Banks, the police) to constantly fight rebel against.
The Adapted Child (AC)

25
• LP is the intuitive part of the child which thinks
without knowing all the facts believed to be needed.
• LP “ thinking” can be free of rigid boundaries and
seems to have an in-born ability to dream up new ideas
and intuitively sense what to do ( or how to solve a
problem) as if by magic.
pkWan ls rkjs rksM+uk] ikuh ls dkj pykuk]
• The LP part of us gets those brilliant, non-logical
insights that give us solution to problem which can
results in major research breakthrough.
Little Professor (LP)

26
 Example of Thomas Elba
Edison: many devices that greatly
influenced life around the world,
including the phonographs,
the motion picture camera, and a
long-lasting practical electric bulb .
His teachers called him Addled.
 Edison sold candy and newspapers
on trains running from Port Huron to
Detroit, and sold vegetables to
supplement his income.
Little Professor (LP)
It is only for Motivation

27
Three ego states with their sub-parts

29
 All of us evoke behaviour from one of the three ego states at
different times.
 A healthy individual maintains a balance between all the three
ego states.
 Each ego states has an appropriate time and place to realize
one’s potential in life, it is important to be able to move flexible
form one ego state to another as different situation arise.
 Adult ego state should dominate a literature search,
 Little professor ego state should operate to come with
creative alternatives and
 Parent ego state may exercise caution while writing up the
research proposal.
 People who lack ego state flexibility tend to operate rigidity and
fail to use their whole personality and their potential.
Implication of Ego State

30
 Organizations also have personalities/working style just
like individual.
 For example, an organizational that encourages
employees at all levels to be creative and spontaneous
would have a high Natural Child and Little Professor.
 An organizational in which employee have little freedom
to think of better ways of doing things might be thought of
as having a high controlling parent, low adult and high
adaptive child.
HOW DO WE DIFFER?
 While all the people are structurally alike, in that they all
have a PAC, they differ in two ways: content difference and
functional differences.
Implication of Ego State cont…

31
 Example of Thomas Elba Edison : many of the
invention he made at the age of 90
 Mical Angelo: Many of his paintings made at
the age of 80 were declared Excellent
 Pikanso: Many of the good role played till the
age of 80
 George Barnard Shah: Wrote many good
stories for play till the the age of 90 yrs
Implication of Ego State cont…

32
Content of parents, Adult and Child:Differing people will be dominated by one ego state
or other. A Normal person will have a proper balance between the three ego states.
P P P P
A
AA
A
C C C C
Parent
dominated
Person
Normal
Person
Child
dominated
Person
Adult
dominated
Person

33
Content of parents, Adult and Child:
The parent dominated people do not engage in rational problem
solving because they already know what is right and what is wrong.
They seem to have an answer for everything.
The adult dominated people can be troublesome because they will be
very boring to work with. They often “ Workaholics”. They are never
able to “ let their hair down” and have fun.
P
A
C
Parent
dominated
Person
P
A
C
Adult dominated
Person

34
Content of parents, Adult and Child:
 The child dominated people, like parent dominated people, do not
engage in rational problem solving.
 They learned in their formative years that they can get things by
screaming and being emotional. These people are very hard to season
with in many situation.
 The proper balance between ego states and flexibility to move from one
to another depending on the situation is essential for a healthy
personality.
P
A
C
Child
dominated
Person
P
A
C
Normal
Person

35
Functional difference: two types of difference may occur “Contamination” and “Exclusion”
CONTAMINATION
Ideally the P-A-C are separate circles. In many people the P or C tend to overlap and
contaminate the A.
When the unexamined Parent-data contaminate the Adult it results in Prejudice. Thus
belief such as ‘ right-handedness is better than left handedness” or “Administrative
people are always out to trouble scientist” are based on prejudgment, before the reality of
adult data is applied to them.
P
C
A
Prejudice
Parent Contaminating Adult

36
When the contamination of the Adult is by the child in the
form of feelings which are inappropriately applied, it results
in Delusion.
These are usually grounded in fear
. For example, Telegrams always bring bad news.”. “ Cops
always beat up people in police station.” are all delusions.
C
A
P
Delusion
Child Contaminating Adult

37
P
C
A
C
A
P
P -Exclusion Constant
Parent
C
A
P
A -Exclusion Constant
Adult
C -Exclusion Constant
Child
EXCLUSION
Exclusion is manifested by a stereotyped, predictable attitude which is
consistently maintained as long as possible in the face of any
threatening situations. The constant Parent, the constant Adult
and the constant Child all result primarily from defensive
exclusion of the other two complementary ego states. The individual
behaves from the excluded ego state in each case.

38
People acting with the exclusion of only one ego state
are:
likely to create problems for themselves and others.
 The constants parent could be too critical or over--
indulgent,
 The constant Adult could be humour less and boring
and
 The constant child could be either care-free or too self
centered.
EXCLUSION Continue…..

40
 It is an Interaction
 The transaction consists of a stimulus by one person and a response by another,
which in turn may become a new stimulus for the other person to respond to.
 It is a unit of social interaction.
 The purpose of analysis is to discover which part of each person- PAC is
originating each stimulus and response.
 The clues to identify these are not only in words but also in one of voice, body
gestures and facial expression. The transaction may be
1. Open or complementary or parallel
2. Block or uncomplimentary or crossed
3. Ulterior or hidden or disguised transaction.
ANALYSING TRANSACTIONS

41
:
When the stimulus and response on the PAC diagram make parallel lines the transaction is complementary and can go
on indefinitely. It does not matter which way the vector go ( P-P, A-A, C-C) P-C, C-A) as a long as they are parallel.
In this case the response to the stimulus is expected or predictable one. Statements are:
1. Scientist 1: This bus is never on time P -P
Scientist2: It is always like this.
2. Scientist 1: You can never rust the labourer. P-P
Scientist2: Yes, they are lazy.
3. Scientist 1: What time is the SRC meeting?. A-A
Scientist2: At 10 AM.
4. Scientist1:Did the attendant clean the lab yesterday? A-A
Scientist 2: Yes he did?
5. Trainees 1: Let us bunk the class C-C
Trainees 2: yes, it will be a fun
6. Scientist 1: Tomorrow is a holiday, we can have fun. C-C
Scientist 2: Yes we can enjoy ourselves
7. Sr. Scientist 1: You should have started your statistical analysis last week.P-C
Jr. Scientist: I am sorry , I shall do it right away.
OPEN OR COMPLEMENTARY OR PARALLEL TRANSACTION:

BLOCKED OR UNCOMPLEMENTARY OR CROSSED TRANSACTION

44
When the stimulus and response cross on the PAC diagram this is called the crossed transaction and
communication stops.
Here the response to the stimulus is either unexpected or inappropriate.
It is out of context with what the sender of the stimulus had originally intended.
For example, if a scientist asks his colleague what is the time? The expected response is telling the
time of the day. But if the colleagues says” Why do not you wear a watch? Then a crossed
transaction has occurred. The stimulus calls for adult to adult response, but instead a critical parent
response is made, as shown in diagram:
P P
A A
C C
Scientist Colleagues
Crossed transactions
BLOCKED OR UNCOMPLEMENTARY OR CROSSED TRANSACTION

45
 The crossed transaction often
terminate communication and
thus are disruptive.
 However, they can be beneficial
in certain cases( confidential
nature).
 Example: if a subordinate avoids
taking decisions ( ex. of ulterior)
and always seeks advise, the boss
can cross his transactions seeking
guidance and force him to take
decision for himself.
BLOCKED OR UNCOMPLEMENTARY OR
CROSSED TRANSACTION

46
In this type of transaction there is one overt stimulus and
simultaneously there is another covert stimulus. For example
transaction in , Scientist to lab Assistant: Where you hide the
pipettes? The main stimulus is the adult seeking the information,
but there is a secondary communication in the work hide. This is ‘
You never keep anything in the proper place’ or you keep
reorganizing the lab arrangement too often’
P P
A A
C C
Scientist Lab Assistant
ulterior or hidden or disguised transactions
ULTERIOR OR HIDDEN OR DISGUISED
TRANSACTION:

Some transaction of this nature can involve stimulus and
response at all levels.
For example if a man writes ‘ I love you’ in the dust collected on
the coffee table at home, the adult is in command. However both
his parent and child are involved.
But, the adult takes charge and writes, ‘ I love you’ because loving
is important to the marriage and thus parent or child are not
activated, but they operate in a hidden manner.
ULTERIOR OR HIDDEN OR
DISGUISED TRANSACTION:

48
The expressed social message in the above example is from
Adult-Adult, but the ulterior message is from child-child.
Both the initiator ( boy) and the responder (girl) understand the
real purpose; to exchange some pleasantries over a cup of coffee.
P
CC
AA
P
Boy His girl friend
I am tired, let’s go and Yes, let’s go, I am also
feeling like to
have a cup of cofee

51
LIFE POSITION -
Self confidence and
confidence in others

52
 In the process of ‘ growing up’, people
make assumption about themselves and
other significant people in their
environment.
 These assumption may or may not be
generalized to other persons later in life.
 These are basic assumptions that individuals
make about themselves and about others.
 The combination of an assumption of
oneself and another is called a life position.
 The life positions tend to be more permanent
and conscious effort is to be made to shift to
position of four of I am OK - you are OK,
LIFE POSITION - Self confidence and confidence in others

53
The four life positions are:
1. I am not OK - Your are OK
2. I am not OK - You are not OK
3. I am OK - You are not OK
4. I am OK - You are OK
 Initially an individual decides on one of the
first three positions.
 The I am not OK - You are OK is the first
tentative decision based on the experiences
of the first year of life.
 By the second year it is either confirmed and
settled or it gives way to position 2 or 3.
 Once finalized , the child stays in his
chosen position and it governs everything he
does.
LIFE POSITION - Self confidence and confidence in others

54
 This is the universal position of early childhood, being the
logical conclusion of the infant.
 Some people get stuck in this position because their
parents unwittingly put them down with negative storks

55
.
‘Example:
Those nasty shoe string. Let me tie them for
you.’ Do not worry about your grades. We do
not expect you to do as well as your sister.
After all, she is a gifted child.’
 Grown ups who assumed this position as children feel
unadequate and often compare themselves unfavorable to
others.
 They tend to seek approval from others unnecessarily and
admire them from an envious position.
I am not OK - You are OK

56
.
‘Example:
 This position indicates an acceptance of others and not of
oneself.
 This is typified by feelings of sadness, inadequacy, stupidity
and a sense of being incompetent.
 People with this life position experience themselves to be
inferior, powerless and lack in skills when compared to
others.
 They tend to undervalue their skills and expertise and avoid
facing difficult situations and problems. Statements which
typify this position are: I will never be able to understand
math's, I wish I could write a paper as good as yours ;
and so on.
I am not OK - You are OK

57
This position may develop when the
parents stop stroking the child and
tend to put him down., while the child
also might be making a mess and
getting into trouble.
This position develops when the
parents ignore the children and show
them little respect and give them rude
negative comments like. Sorry
you are always slow.’ ;
You will never learn, will
you ?.
I am not OK - You are not OK

58
These people tend to feel bad about themselves
and see the whole world as miserable . Their attitude
is, why bother? what is the point? Management by
chaos could be their style. At work, they can’t make
their own decision and can’t trust their subordinates.
They often lose interest in life, tend to give up, and in
extreme cases commit suicide or homicide. This is the
perfect wrong position, and one should get rid of it at
the earliest after being made aware of it.
I am not OK - You are not OK

59
 Children develop this position when
their parents treat them as if they are
always right. Such parents are
continuously blaming themselves,
putting themselves down.
 For example, Nina often hear her
mother say things like, ‘ Oh how stupid
of me, Look what I have done, I have
brought you the wrong size shoes again
 Children of these parents
understandable develop a false sense of
power and superiority over their
parents and other people.
I am OK- You are not OK

61
 They usually do not accept responsibility for their
problems, and may not even realize they have any
problems.
 They project the blame on others.
 Their relationship with others at work will be
characterized by victimization, abuse and disregard.
 Statements like: you don’t know how to draft even a
simple letter; that is a stupid proposal etc. indicate
that a person is operating from this life position.
These people put down others, inflates their own
achievements and attain power and status at others
expenses.
I am OK- You are not OK

62
This is an ideal, healthy , constructive
position in which people feel good about
themselves and others.
This fourth position is reached as a results
of a conscious decision of the individual.
The first three position are based on
feelings. This fourth position is based on
thought and faith.
People with this position tend to have a
positive outlook on life and are happy,
productive, energetic and at peace with
themselves and the world.
This life position indicates an acceptance of
one’s own self-worth and the worth of
others.
I am OK- You are OK

63
A person holding this life position will employ
management by self direction, because he is
sure of his competence as well as the
capabilities of his subordinates.
The dominant style of these people is
collaboration , mutual trust, sharing authority
and responsibility with others. They listen to,
and offer constructive criticism and are good
problems solvers.
They are likely to succeed in life, finding
satisfaction with work and relations with others
and lead a happy life.
I am OK- You are OK

66
STROKES
( Recognition of another
presence)

67
A stroke is defined as any act implying
recognition of another presence.
A stroke can be verbal or non verbal both.
A hello, waving the hand, a smile, ‘ I like
you, are the example of stroke. Every one
needs some kind of stroking; whether
pleasant or unpleasant.
A stroke that evokes the feeling of ‘I am OK
, You are OK’ is a positive stroke.
Expressed loving, caring, respecting and
responding to a need are positive
stroking..Example: a spontaneous hug.
STROKES ( Recognition of another presence)

68
A stroke that brings forth a
feeling of I am not OK is a
negative stroke. Expressed
hating is such a stroke.
Example: ‘ Get away from me, I
do not like you.’
A conditional stroke is given
to you for what you do.
Example: Ali, if you take off
your school uniform I will like
you’.
STROKES ( Recognition of another presence)

69
An unconditional stoke is one
that is given for just being you. Example: ‘ I like
to look at you.’
 Good strokes humanize and improve the
quality of work life. Strokes are necessary for
physical and mental health. People need
strokes for their sense of survival and well-
being on the job.
 In fact strokes are a basic unit of motivation.
Throughout the life and every one need
stroking.
 As you grow up, symbolic or work stroking
becomes substitute for physical stroke.
In a work situation the strokes serve as
1. Negative or positive motivator
2. Source of job satisfaction
3. Intrinsic motivator where the activity of work
itself gives strokes.

70
Stroke for being Stroke for doing
Positive I like you
Unconditional,
Loving
I like what you have done
Conditional
Reward
Negative I dislike you,
Negative
Unconditional
Hating
I dislike what you have done,
Negative,
Conditional,
Punishment

71
 Strokes can come easily in relatively small
organization. ( interaction is more).NRC ON
YAK/EQUINE
 As organization grow larger, people become
farther removed from another and begin to feel
smaller. Remarks such as ‘Nobody listens, nobody
cares’ are often heard. This is because strokes become
fewer and more remote. IVRI/IARI
 When things are running smoothly the strokes dry
up and life become boring. To get some excitement,
people need the stroke. In this situation people
perform unwittingly poorly so that a crisis results. It
lead the people to get enough strokes.
 There is a need to set up a system where
employees are able to get a lot of positive strokes
when things are going well.
GUIDELINES FOR STROKING PERFORMANCE

72
Avoid stroking undesirable
behaviour
People who come to work on time and do a good job
may never hear about it for years. Those who arrive
late and go off early get a lot of attention. This
situation tends to perpetuate ‘ mediocrity’.
Following this principle, avoid stroking a person for
undesirable behaviour. Instead, think of the positive
behaviour you want and stroke it.
Time you stroke
To be most effective in motivating a person, a
stroke should come as soon as possible after the
desired performance. A late stroke looses its
effectiveness.
Some guidelines

73
Stroke Approximation:
Stroke with every small improvement in
performance without waiting for complete
perfection before stroking. If you wait until
people perform at the mastery level, you may
never stroke them and they may never know
they are moving in desired directions. Stroke
should be commensurate to the level of
performance.
Some guidelines

74
Raise the Criteria of Stroking:
A criterion is a rule or guideline for deciding
whether something is acceptable. It is not enough
just to apply stroke approximations. Eventually
we want to be stroking masterly performance,
so you must gradually raise your criteria for
stroking.
Pace your strokes:
Give consistent conditional positive strokes
initially and conditional positive random strokes
during the later phases. Never completely stop
stroking.

75
Ear Shooting:
is a useful technique for stroking and is
also called third hand stroking. When we
give a third stroke, we do not talk directly
to the person we are stroking , but instead
talk to a third party within ear shot.
Negative ear shooting gives negative result
and positive eat shooting is very effective.
Reminder For stroking:
A display of record of high performance
is an effective way of stroking people. It
reminds the supervisor to stroke the people,
who also stroke themselves when they see
the display.

76
STEREO TYPED STROKING:
When stroking performance, it is importance to be
aware of pattern of stroking the ego states of others.
Sometimes we do not distribute strokes equally-one ego
state may get all the strokes and the others none.
People get strokes for being intelligent, decisive,
controlling, self- reliant, dependent, nurturing,
decorative or aggressive. Traditionally women have
commonly got stokes for such things as appearance,
niceness, neatness, quietness i.e., strokes for their
adapted child.
WAYS OF STROKING

77
STEREO TYPED STROKING:
In contrast men have got stokes for such things as
performance, leadership , decision making,
achievements ie., strokes for their adult ego
state, it is a good idea to become aware of
stereotypes stoking and to move towards more
balanced stroking of ego states. It is complained
that female employee are not as self-reliant,
decisive or logical as they should be or that men
are insensitive and with out feeling, little realizing
that stereo typed stoking has made them so.
WAYS OF STROKING

78
Stroking is not always verbal ( i.e., spoken word) . It can also
be done in non-verbal ways ( including the written words) as
follows
Physical Touch:
This is most direct and often the most powerful stroke and
involves physical touch- a pat on the arm, shoulder, or
back, a hearty handshake or a warm hug.
Body language:
The look in your eyes, the position of our arms, gestures,
postures and facial expression, all speak a powerful
language. Often our body speaks without our being fully
aware of it. It is important that our body language strokes fit
with and compliment our verbal strokes.
NON-VERBAL STROKING:

79
Written Message:
If you find it hard to say anything warm or complementary,
it might be easy to express your appreciation through the
written word. On job, a memo or a note that shares
information with employees can be an effective written
stroke.
Gift:
Another non verbal way to stroke a person is to give a gift.
This is not about buttering up or bribing someone , but is
either a spontaneous act of thoughtfulness or a planned
honour for services of an outstanding performance.
NON-VERBAL STROKING:

80
In Addition to stroking people for performance, it is also importance
to stroke them simply because they are there, because they exist.
Such stroking is not only reassuring but it also feels especially
good.
It tells others that you know they are there and that you care about
them as people.
People need both kinds of strokes “ Positive conditional” and
Positive unconditional”.
STROKES FOR BEING:

81
In Transactional Analysis, stamps are
feeling that are collected at the end of a
transaction. One can collect stamps
from one self or from others. When
sufficient number of stamps are collected,
they can be enchased for a ‘ prize’.
Two types of stamp- Gold Stamps and
Brown or Grey Stamps.
GOLD STAMPS:
These refer to collections of good or
positive feelings. Collecting gold
stamps is a constructive activity.
Gold stamps are collected when one
does a job well, succeeds in a
competitive examination, and so on.
These gold stamps can be encased
for good times. Seeking relaxation
after a productive job is one such
example.
STAMPS ( The study of collection of feelings)
BROWN or GREY STAMPS
These refer to collection of bad or negative
feelings. It is a non-constructive activity.
In this case, a person collects hurts, insults
and resentments until he feels ready to
encash them for a drink, a day off reporting
sick or by rebelling.
When enough Grey tamps are collected, a
person feels justified in indulging in a
dramatic emotional out-burst, feeling
depressed or feeling sorry for oneself.
It may also result in slowing down
production, sabotaging some equipment
or spreading rumors against a colleagues
, supervisor, workers or the organization
and so on.

82
Everyone collects grey stamps at one time or the other. It is,
therefore, essential to learn of the procedure of giving up grey
stamps.
1st to identify the bad feelings and their source: Someone else,
or is it you yourself who are originating the bad feeling. If the
feeling is self given, then you have to deal with it by analysing
it and giving it up by getting away from the situation by
constructive action.
If the bad feeling are given by someone else, ------- to clarify
the message, if it still persists, then do::
a). Sharing the feeling with someone else,
b). By physical exertion
c) .By nurturing self-talk
d). By giving unexpected gold stamp to the grey stamp giver. (
Congratulations )

83
TIME STRUCTURING
(ways of spending time)

84
Everyone needs strokes.
One can get the desired strokes by structuring one’s
time properly. There are six basic ways in which we
structure our time.
•Ritual : Socially acceptable ways of greeting
•Pastimes : Superficially exchange about non-threatening
Activities : Goal directed behaviour like work, hobbies,
writing, photography etc.
•Games :Recurring transaction with concealed motivation
( politician)
•Withdrawal : Non contact with others
•Intimacy : Honest, open, loving and trusting relationship

85
•RITUALS
A ritual is a fixed and socially approved way of behaving towards other people.
Strokes such as ‘ hello’” Good Morning”, Namaste, “how are you”, “ Good
Bye” , “Take care” , are called rituals. Ritual offer a safe, reassuring and often
enjoyable method of structuring time. They give us an early starting point and
enable us to more meaningful ways of relating to each other.

86
•PASTIMES
This is comfortable way of passing time. Eg. Gossiping and topic of
pastime strokes are weather, sports, politics, bosses etc. In the work place
pastimes take the shape of discussions such as” why don’t we do it this
way’? , ‘ Now a days it is not what it used to be etc.
A certain amount of pastime is
beneficial in the work place as it:
 helps people to get to know another
better.
It gives an opportunity to relax..
However, if it is carried to an excess,
pastime take up a lot of productive
time as they are not goal directed and
produce no goods or services.

87
ACTIVITIES
•These are behaviour directed towards external
goals such as work, hobbies, sports, household
activities and social activities.
•Activities can be very satisfying in themselves
through creativity and productivity. They are
very rewarding because of strokes gained from the
activities itself and also from others. Excessive
indulgence in activities can cause its own
problems such as boredom and isolation from
others .

88
GAMES
A game is an ongoing series of ulterior transaction
progressing to a well defined, predictable outcome.
Games give us strokes which are negative pay off resulting
from ulterior transactions.
These strokes are very powerful, intense and we continue
to feel them for a long time. Game transactions conclude
with an emotional pay off-a hurtful stroke- which
reinforces a person’s previous decision that some one is
‘Not OK’ either ‘ I am OK’ or ‘You are OK’. Game
players assume one of the three basic roles- Prosecutor,
Victim or Rescuer all of which are phony roles.

89
Prosecutor are people who
• make unrealistic rules
• enforce rules in cruel ways
• pick on ‘little guys’ rather than people of their own size
Victims are people who
* provoke others to put them down, use them and hurt them
* send ‘ helplessness’ message
* act confused
Rescuer are people who
* offer a false helpfulness to keep others dependent on them
* do not really help others and may actually dislike helping
* work to maintain the victim role so that they can continue to play
The players of a game form a triangle in which they
often switch back and forth in their roles.
This was pointed out by Karpman and is
called the Karpman triangle.

90
People play games: Why
* to get strokes
* to strengthen one’s life position
* to avoid or control intimacy
* to structure time in a predictable way
* to keep re-experiencing a favorite/ bad feeling
* to avoid responsibility for the problems they have

91
Blemish:
Players are the office nit picker. They pick on small, inconsequential details
when more important matters need attention.
If it were not for you (IWFY):
people who play this game unconsciously often feel incapable, unhappy or
inadequate. Rather than admit these feelings, they blame others for their
plight.
Now I have Got you, You Son of a Bithch( NIGYSOB):
These players lay traps. They set impossible goals, give ambiguous
directions, fail to provide subordinates with needed job aids, or give hazy
standards. When a subordinates fails to measure up these players bounce
on the victim and indulge in angry explosions.
SOME COMMON GAMES:
Games that put other down include:

92
Rapo:
Women who play rapo have learned to distrust or dislike men and have taken
the position that “ Men are not-OK”. Men who take up the position that “ Women
are not OK” also play a variation of rapo.. In addition , they tend to reconfirm role
stereotypes. This is particularly defeating to women seeking higher position in
an organization and to men who are adjusting to the new roles of men and women.
Psychiatry :
A psychiatry player hurts other people with special psychological language.
Guard against playing this game. To make sure that you are not playing “ psychiatry
“ , be sure that whenever you use a TA term, everyone within earshot nor only
understands it but also agrees to its use. If they do not, do not use it.

93
Wooden leg:
 A person who plays this game wants to be excused from
work and responsibility.
 These players often have a burden of some kind of such
as physical or social handicap.
 They take advantage of their burdens and use them to
excuse themselves.
 Wooden leg players are often heard to say such things
as, “ What can you expect from a person with my
background?” or “ How can you expect me to operate
that machine? You know:
 “I am too short, I am too tall, I wear glass, My ear are to
sensitive to loud noises, I have never done that before, I
came from poor house, I have always had a bad
memory”.
Games that we use to put down ourselves include:

94
These people provoke other people to put them down.
They do this in a variety of ways- for example, by;
drinking excessively , violating company policies,
taking drugs, failing to carry out important tasks,
consistently missing deadlines.
 A hard game of Kick me on the job often results in
the player being fired.
 In such games players kick themselves by how they
talk to themselves in their own heads- hence this is
called a “ skull game”! These players often say
Things like “ How could I have doe such a terrible
thing? I could kick myself” “ Why did I say that ? “
How could I have been so mean….?
Kick Me:

95
Stupid:
This is a type of kick me game in which players make
special arrangements for putting their brains down. They
seem to compulsively make mistakes so that they can make
a fuss and proclaim,”How could I have do this such stupid
thing? Where was I when the good Lord passed out brains?”

96
Although Kick Me players want kick, Schlemiel players do many
of the same things but seek a different kind of ending to their game-
forgiveness. These players wants to be reassured that they are OK,
that they are accepted no matter what they do.
To get reassured, these players compulsively makes clumsy
mistake like:
* spilling coffee on the final draft of a manuscript;
* dropping a delicate piece of equipment
* spilling typing correction fluid on a new rug
•burning a desk with a cigarette
Each time they play, they become highly upset and plead for
forgiveness until someone reassures them by saying.” That is OK,
Do not worry about it. Everybody makes mistakes.
Schlemiel

97
Lunch Bag:
Executives who compulsively collect self-righteous
feelings about themselves like to play this game. They try to
make others feel too guilty or too fearful to come to them
with their proposals and request.
The object of playing lunch bag is to feel self-righteous and
to encourage others to think “ How can I come to this humble
person with a request for a new facility when he/she does not
even eat a good hot lunch”?.
The lunch bag game also allows players to avoid contact
with co-workers who do not get a chance to talk over lunch
about their needs and interest.

98
Harried:
It is a dangerous game that can structure a whole lifetime.
These players play the role of superman or wonderwomen to hide an
underlying psychological position of “ I am Not –OK”.
Often they are the first ones to arrive at work and the last ones to leave.
As Harried persons advance in an organization, they take on more
responsibilities and do more work under excessive pressure to maintain
their super person front.
Stress takes its toll, and eventually Harried players may collapse from
nervous tension. Common pay offs are depression, vices, colitis and
even heart attacks.

99
Effect of Game playing on organization:
Because of their destructive quality, game in organizations
waste energy, time and money.
Problems remain unsolved, divisions remain unmade and
important tasks beg for attention.
Games waste productive time in organizations and effect
psychological health of employees.
We have to thus, stop playing games in the organizations.
Ways to stop playing games:
•Give an expected response
•Stop putting down people
•Build self confidence
•Stop playing phony roles
•Give and receive more warm fuzzes
•Risk authenticity
•Keep your sense of humour
•Exchange genuine positive strokes

100
Withdrawal:
Withdrawal is the removal of oneself from a situation either physically or mentally/
psychologically. Physical withdrawal involves actually walking out and removing
yourself from other people. Psychological withdrawal occurs when you turn off
awareness of your surroundings and start day dreaming. There can be many reasons
for withdrawal;
Fear of getting hurt,
 mentally leaving a lecture to think about an idea that struck you,
 talking to yourself if you are angry in order to cool off.
withdrawal can be positive or negative. Withdrawal is not helpful
when it results in continued avoidance of responsibility.

101
Intimacy:
It occurs when we are having a heart –to-heart talk and sharing feelings.
When we are coming on straight and being honest. When we drop
pretense and are not afraid to be ourselves. Intimacy is a ‘Union of
personalities’, the mentality of two persons in a shared identity’
The different facets of Intimacy are listed below:
 Aesthetic : Sharing experiences of beauty
 Commitment : Mutual self-investment
 Conflict : facing and struggling with difference
 Creative : Sharing experiences of creating
 Crisis : closeness in coping with problems
 Emotional : Sharing of significant feelings and meanings
Intellectual : Sharing experiences of fun & play
 Spiritual : The we-ness in sharing ultimate concerns
 Work : Sharing of common tasks

102
SCRIPT ANALYSIS
A person’s psychological script is a life plan, decided by him before the age
of six or seven – a drama the person writes and then feels compelled to live out.
These plans may be positive, negative or circular- endless repetition headed
nowhere.
Every one has a script.
You have developed yours based on experiences as a child. One potent influence
was your various transactions with your parents ( or other authority figures).
These in turn led you to make certain decisions, formulate life positions, play
psychological games, and start the drama of your script. Without being aware of it,
we tend to arrange our environment so that our script is perpetuated. Once we
begin to be more aware of ourselves we can write a new script, choosing even more
successful pathways.

Transactional Analysis: concept and significance in organizational effectiveness

Empfohlen

Empfohlen

Weitere ähnliche Inhalte

Was ist angesagt?

Was ist angesagt? (20)

Ähnlich wie Transactional Analysis: concept and significance in organizational effectiveness

Ähnlich wie Transactional Analysis: concept and significance in organizational effectiveness (20)

Mehr von bp singh

Mehr von bp singh (9)

Kürzlich hochgeladen

Kürzlich hochgeladen (20)

Transactional Analysis: concept and significance in organizational effectiveness