History systemic approach in organizations and the Dutch development in a nutshell

View from Jan Jacob Stam

How did it start?

In 1992, the first book on family constellations was published in Germany and became a bestseller. Just a few years later, in 1995, Bert Hellinger facilitated the first-ever organizational constellation with Gunthard Weber as the client. Gunthard asked, “Can constellations be applied in business?” Bert’s reply was simple: “Yes, and you, Gunthard, will be the first client.”

This constellation had a profound effect on Gunthard—he left his job at a psychiatric center and established his own institute. Bert, recognizing that organizational constellations weren’t his area of interest, passed the torch to Gunthard, encouraging him to develop this new branch under the broader umbrella of family constellations.

By 1998, the Easter Group was formed at Gunthard’s initiative. It included Jörg Bitzer, Ekkehard Nau, and Jan Jacob Stam, later joined by Guni Baxa and Christine Essen, among others. This group evolved into INFOSYON, the global association for organizational constellations. INFOSYON organized congresses, created a certification system, and helped expand the practice beyond Germany to an international audience.

Bringing Systemic Work to Business in the Netherlands

We outline some of the key steps and interventions, more or less in the order they occurred over the span of 15 years, beginning in 2000.

Around 2000, Jan Jacob began as the first and pioneer, to introduce systemic work in business in the Netherlands, focusing on organizational constellations as a distinct practice from family constellations. He separated the field of organizational constellations from the field of family constellations and designed the ‘System Dynamics in Organizations’ training, so participants didn’t need prior knowledge of family constellations to learn how to facilitate organizational constellations.

He created “laboratories”—evenings where he explored organizational themes, such as mergers, through two or three constellations. These sessions were held across the Netherlands, allowing him to rapidly learn about common business challenges while attracting the attention of business professionals.

Through numerous introductory evenings, particularly for consultancy groups, he began engaging with the business world. He also supported academic research, including a PhD study on the effectiveness of branding constellations, which helped increase credibility.

A key route into business was through consultants. As a member of the Dutch association for consultants, Jan Jacob introduced a simplified form of constellations in peer groups, providing an accessible entry point. Additionally, a smaller pathway emerged through individuals who had experienced family constellations and wondered if the method could benefit their business.

Lowering Barriers

He recognized early on that businesses are not interested in therapy, nor do they want to be treated like family systems or delve into personal issues. This awareness made it easier to introduce constellations to the business world.

Jan Jacob realized that Bert Hellinger left two legacies: the widely-known method of constellations and the less-recognized, yet crucial, theory of social systems and systemic principles. As a former manager and consultant, Jan Jacob understood that most managers would not incorporate constellations into their day-to-day operations, he focused on applying systemic principles in leadership. These principles are easier to adopt and help awaken systemic intelligence without the heavy investment of time and training required for good constellations.

Expanding the Systemic Approach

Over time, we shifted our focus from promoting constellations to developing systemic principles. Thousands of people have since been trained to facilitate organizational constellations and apply them in team and organizational settings. We discovered that systemic intelligence exists in every manager, leader, and employee, and our role became more about tapping into this awareness rather than trying to “sell” systemic work.

Jan Jacob also wrote accessible books in business language on systemic leadership and teamwork, making the principles even more approachable.

Dees and Jan Jacob further refined systemic processes and interventions, testing them with teams and continuously evolving the methods. Dees, in particular, has worked to develop language that resonates with the business world.

They developed tools like the TeamConnect survey, to provide quick, accurate diagnoses of a team or organization’s systemic state, helping to identify the next steps for growth.

Ultimately, we believe that the most important tool is the manager, consultant, or facilitator themselves. A deep understanding of systemic principles often matters more than the specific tools used.

The Present and Future of Systemic Work

Today, the systemic phenomenological approach is well-known and widely accepted in the Netherlands. As awareness grows about the importance of teams over individual leaders, we believe the systemic approach will continue to spread and become even more valuable in the increasingly complex business landscape.