Tracing the Heritage and Evolution of Gestalt Psychology in Morphologic Organisation Analysis

Summary This paper explores the application of Gestalt psychological principles in the analysis of organisational culture and transformation. Tracing a conceptual lineage from early Gestalt psychology through Kurt Lewin’s field theory and Edgar Schein’s organisational culture model, the authors demonstrate how psychological holism and dynamic thinking continue to shape contemporary organisational diagnosis. Central to the discussion is the morphological method developed by Wilhelm Salber and further advanced by Herbert Fitzek, which interprets organisational cultures as symbolic, evolving Gestalts. The paper outlines a four-stage model of cultural diagnosis that emphasises perceptual dynamics, symbolic figuration, and psychodynamic tensions. The authors illustrate how deep structures of meaning, contradiction, and orientation can be surfaced and reworked within the organisational field. The study concludes by affirming the potential of morphological analysis to support reflexive organisational development and cultural transformation.