Carl Jung described the shadow side of a personality as the traits and feelings not consciously recognized about oneself because of repression, suppression, or disowning.  He suggested that integrating the conscious and unconscious aspects of personality is required for a healthy psyche.

If you think this psychobabble only belongs in the therapist's office, guess what - it applies to organizations, too.  Organizations have personalities - we call them organization cultures - and it is helpful to recognize the shadow side that is part of your organization's culture.

Let's take a collaborative culture as an example. Most organizations today strive for collaboration and take pride in promoting a collaborative culture. To embrace a collaborative culture, the organization also needs to recognize the shadow side of collaboration. It takes longer to make a decision in a collaborative culture because of the number of people who are engaged in the process.  More effort is involved in bringing together various stakeholders and negotiating the disparate interests of the stakeholders.  Opportunity for miscommunication increases because of the number of people involved in collaboration. Those in authority struggle to retain their authority and responsibility to the organization while engaging many voices.