From team to crew: Embarking together and sailing together in an institution

This article revisits institutional teamwork through the metaphor of a crew, revealing the potential of the group: to drift, to cross, to capsize, or even to run aground. Faced with the intertwining of singularities and the quest for a common course, it explores the landmarks guiding this collective navigation in an uncertain institutional climate. The analysis revolves around three metaphorical figures heard in institutions of misinscription: ‘The captain has abandoned ship,’ ‘We are sailing by sight,’ and ‘We are bailing out the boat instead of looking for the source of the leak.’ The marine metaphor is studied on several levels: as a narrative tool to contain collective tensions, as a revealer of unconscious group dynamics, and as a means of shared storytelling in a moment of crisis. Finally, the maritime dimension is analysed as a liminal, fluid and shifting space, conducive to encounters with otherness, but also marked by instability, crossing and its emergences.