To Facilitate = To Make Easier

Through the art, science and disciplines of facilitation, we help groups complete tasks, solve problems or reach agreements.

Our work is rooted in organization development, adult learning theory, systems thinking and complexity science. In each of our sessions, you’ll detect echoes of Edgar Schein, Chris Argyris, Jim Collins, Margaret Wheatley, Peter Senge, Roger Schwartz, Edward De Bono and other thought leaders.

Benefits include:

• well-defined (and achievable) “desired outcomes”
• higher quality dialogue
• more parallel thinking
• process tools to improve the group’s ability to work together
• reduced tendency to “go off in all directions”
• freedom to allow “the boss” to participate in and not run meetings

A mind that is expanded by a new idea will never go back to its original dimension.” — Oliver Wendell Holmes

Strategic Planning

Regardless of the strategic framework, you can be assured we will capitalize on the collective brain-trust which will allow even the most seasoned leader to think in new and creative ways.

Over the years the enthusiasm surrounding strategic planning has waxed and waned. Unchanged has been the importance of understanding:

• the common goal
• the thinking behind that goal, and
• the capacities and capabilities needed to achieve it

Our approach to these conversations varies with the needs of our clients. For some, the tried-and-true objectives, goals and strategies work best. For others, the creation of simple strategic rules is a better fit. And in some cases, it’s a blend of the two. Whatever the approach, it is designed and delivered with the unique needs of your organization in mind.

Multi-Stakeholder Collaborations

Multi-stakeholder collaborations are tasked with challenges, problems or opportunities that individual groups or organizations cannot achieve alone. While each participant may espouse the need for a common decision or shared direction, an internal scorecard is often used to calculate the costs or benefits to one’s individual circumstance. By their nature, multi-stakeholder collaborations are shaped by a rich and dynamic world of hidden forces, elements of which may include:

• Multiple (and sometimes changing) interests
• Diverse levels of knowledge and experience
• Inter-stakeholder history
• Unexpressed assumptions and expectations
• Gender or cultural differences
• Different communication styles, skills and levels-of-comfort
• Unequal access to information (silos)
• Established decision-making roles and practices

In these circumstances, we use a dialogue-based approach that builds a climate of inquiry, respect and creativity.  We have found that with these conditions established, transformation takes place.

The challenge of every team is to build a feeling of oneness, of dependence on one another… because the question is usually not how well each person performs, but how well they work together.” — Vince Lombardi