James Krantz
James Krantz, Ph.D. is a leading voice in the areas of organizational change, leadership, and the design of work for high performance.
Prior to founding WorkLab (formerly Nautilus Consulting Group), Jim worked as a consultant with the Wharton School’s Center for Applied Research and the Tavistock Institute in London. He has held faculty appointments at Wharton and Yale, and has taught in numerous other settings including INSEAD, McKinsey’s Center Asian Leadership, and Columbia University. In addition, he served as Assistant Director of Wharton’s Leadership Program.
Jim’s collaborative model of consultation recognizes that the unique characteristics of each organization must be understood in order to arrive at individually tailored, workable solutions. He helps clients address the need for significant change by emphasizing the importance of careful analysis to avoid prematurely jumping from “symptom” to “solution/technique” without understanding the critical underlying systemic factors. He also works extensively with leaders and teams, helping them face difficult issues and improve decision-making.
Jim has helped a broad range of clients by simultaneously focusing on systems analysis and the psychodynamics of organizations. Among the central principles that inform his systems psychodynamic practice are: 1. organizations are shaped jointly by social and technical forces; 2. they exist in increasingly dynamic and unstable environments; 3. clarity of objectives and tasks provide an essential basis for high performance; and 4. adapting to emerging conditions requires people in organizations to learn from experience.
Jim has published widely on organizational performance, the impact of emerging social trends on the challenges of management, and issues of leadership in contemporary organizations. He serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, Organisational and Social Dynamics, and Socio-Analysis. He is a past president of the International Society for the Psychoanalytic Study of Organizations and Fellow of the A.K. Rice Institute. Jim holds a B.A. in Economics and Philosophy from Wesleyan University, and received his Ph.D. and M.S. in Systems Sciences from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.