Inquiry
Our practice is based on our belief that organizations are complex social networks. Hence, we focus on how people interact, the conversations they have, the emergent patterns and dynamics, and the interplay of persistence and change. We engage with our clients in a process of inquiry by asking, “How would you like organizational members to interact?”; “What are the important conversations they need to have?” “How are the emerging themes and patterns of their interactions and conversations informing you?” and “What do you need to do to achieve your vision of success?” We help leaders articulate and convey their strategic intentions and support their staff to take initiatives and help organizations mobilize their innovative potential.
Inquiring in this way involves clients participating in dialogue on the telephone, or in face to face interviews, conversations in small groups or whole organization group discussions. We do not go into this process with our own agenda of what needs to happen; our evocative inquiry process facilitates the creation of new meaning for leaders and organizational members to create a vision of the future together. Our approach is about generating high levels of engagement and energy with the focus on increasing organizational effectiveness. As the inquiry progresses, we help our clients step into the future they have visualized and bring about real and sustainable change.
Insight
We work with our clients to enhance their awareness and understanding of the real issues they face, helping them to develop a clearer sense of the choices they have and the possibilities open to them. We help them to address the “wicked problems” of organizational life that may have more than one solution and require the mobilization of the collective wisdom from various levels in the organization. Whatever the size or numbers involved, the process, of encouraging people to be open to the views of others, to defer judgment and often to let go of their preconceived notion of “either/or”, helps our clients to discover new insights into themselves and their organization. Our clients always say that they become smarter about their own organizations after working with us.
Imagination
Our practice involve challenging some of the constraints, such as routine and habitual ways of thinking and working, or unexamined rules and assumptions, or excessive power differentials which inhibit the emergence of creative experimentation, innovation, and induce risk aversion. Our consultancy ‘expertise’ lies in working with the social processes in an organization rather than imposing pre-formed methods and solutions on the organisation. Managers bring their current concerns and issues to the table. There they are listened to, supported and challenged to think about their issue from new perspectives, to pay attention to their own part in the problem and come up with fresh ways of approaching the problem. We use a number of different approaches that enable real and sometimes difficult conversations: action learning, appreciative inquiry, large group meetings, virtual workshops and learning architectures are examples of our methodology.
Impact
The process itself can feel challenging, as well as liberating. Sometimes our clients reflect upon what’s happening with phrases such as: “It’s naming the elephant in the room”, “Taking the lid off”, “Naming the unsayables before moving forward”. And they will also describe it as “At last we are getting real”, “We can do something about this and we did”, “No wonder we have been so stuck. Now we have reached our desired state”. We partner with our clients to implement the innovative structures and processes to better serve organizational members and customers. And, we measure business and behavioral changes using organizational and personal assessment tools.
