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Working with the Elephant: Methods for Engaging with the Unsaid in Groups and Organizations book cover

1st Edition

Working with the Elephant Methods for Engaging with the Unsaid in Groups and Organizations

By Lotte Svalgaard Copyright 2025
198 Pages 18 B/W Illustrations
by Productivity Press

198 Pages 18 B/W Illustrations
by Productivity Press

198 Pages 18 B/W Illustrations
by Productivity Press
Also available as eBook on:
We’ve all been there. We are in a working group or at a meeting, discussing a topic or a challenge, and all the while, as a separate track running underneath our conversation, there is a subtext that no one explicitly addresses. This is an example of ‘the elephant in the room’. Most of us notice the elephant, it gets in the way, and it’s difficult to deal with until someone points at it and... Read more
Preface
About the Author
Introduction
Theoretical Cornerstones
Challenge 1. What Do I Do When I Miss Important Signals?
Challenge 2. What Do I Do When I Avoid Issues That Make Me Feel Insecure?
Challenge 3. What Is My Next Step When I Have Entered Uncertainty and Decided To Stay with the Struggle?
Challenge 4. How Do I Address Difficult Issues?
Challenge 5. What Do I Do When There Is No Psychological Safety?
Challenge 6. What Do I Do When Power Is Present in the Room?
Challenge 7. How Do I Deal with Impression Management and Pretence?
Challenge 8. What Do I Do if I Have Become the Designated Elephant Handler?
Challenge 9. How Do I Approach the Big Elephants That Have Been Around for Much Too Long?
Challenge 10. What Is the Right Timing and Dosage When I Want to Bring Up Elephants?
Conclusion
References
Notes
Index

Biography

Lotte Svalgaard holds a Phd and a MSc in Business Psychology. Her research investigates how individuals can be awake and aware, show up and engage with challenges outside of their comfort zone. Her writing has appeared in Management Learning, Action Learning – Research & Practice, Socioanalysis and SAGE Research Method Cases. Her passion, to contribute to create more passionate and mindful organizations, makes up the platform for her work, her research and her authorships. 

She is a global leadership development professional with extensive experience within group dynamics, experiential leadership development, and organizational consultancy. Lotte is currently a senior leadership consultant and executive coach at INSEAD, consulting and coaching on senior executive leadership programs across multiple industries around the world.

Besides her work at INSEAD, she is a senior partner in Action Lab, where she designs and implements business driven action learning programs for global companies. Since 2001, she has been an associated professor, lecturer and supervisor at the ‘Master of Psychology in Organisations’ at Roskilde University, Denmark.  She is the author of The Elephant in the Room: Engaging with the Unsaid in Groups and Organizations, Routledge, 2023.

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