We apply tools and techniques drawn from the leading edge of human development and complexity theory to the following fields:
Facilitation of Complex Change Management Initiatives
All organisations talk about organisational change as a constant need yet very often fail to achieve the goals that a given change programme is expected to deliver (for example, most observers believe that over 80% of significant change processes fail).
Our experience indicates that the most common problems are:
- A lack of leadership congruence – what senior personnel say is seen to be very different to what they do day-by-day
- A clash of values or beliefs – it is incumbent upon leadership to understand what the change means from the perspective of those most affected by it. The change may still be necessary and yet have unfortunate future consequences for those involved – this should be recognised and declared, and steps put in place to mitigate where possible.
- Real-time feedback is ignored or considered to be ‘just teething problems’ and the fact that it may be indicative of a deeper, more systemic issue is missed.
- The soft-skills necessary for the change to be effective are ignored.
Many years ago, the late David McClelland’s team at Harvard identified three requirements that have to be met for any change to be sustainable over time:
People must:
- … be willing to change (if not, this becomes a motivation issue)
- … be able to change – in other words, to know how to change (if not, this becomes an educational development or training issue)
- … not be prevented from changing (if they are, this is a systemic issue)
The second criterion (ability or knowledge) is usually fairly straightforward to deal with but the other two are more challenging. We have therefore developed a range of tools to help you both plan for a desired change and its implementation and, equally importantly, ways to resolve deadlocks and resistance to change when it occurs. For example…
Where the motivation or commitment to a change is lacking, an understanding of how Values Systems and their consequences becomes a valuable catalyst for progress
For those situations where the ‘system’ itself prevents the change, our complexity-based methodology will help to define and resolve these obstacles.
Development of Organisational Strategy
The majority of organisations have made significant investments in a strategic plan yet so many of these strategies fail, usually because of one of three reasons:
- The strategy is based on wishful thinking and/or vague aspirational language that often describes hopes or goals outside of the organisation’s control to make happen
- It confuses defining strategy with objective setting – for example, going for market share, maximising revenue etc.
- It avoids dealing with the hard issues and choices that define the major challenges facing the organisation
Our systemic approach to strategic planning helps you to avoid these pitfalls by identifying and defining a desired future state that is within your potential control to make happen and then eliciting a limited number of strategic priorities that will enable you to deliver it.
Support in Complex Negotiations and Conflict Resolution
This high value service can be applied to negotiations in any sector, irrespective of how complex or technologically demanding it is. Our approach typically involves helping negotiators to…
- Consider the future desired outcome of the negotiation from multiple perspectives and the most effective pathway to their achievement.
- Distinguish what is, and what is not, within their control to make happen.
- Identify, understand and utilise the key drivers of each stakeholder, without judging them to be right or wrong, good or bad, positive or negative.
- Identify the potential barriers to a successful and sustainable agreement and, if necessary, the criteria under which ‘walking away’ would be the most effective outcome.
- Develop strategies for dealing with so-called ‘difficult people’.
High Performance Executive Coaching and Mediation – Individual and Team
The mental well-being of our staff is increasingly recognised as part of every organisation’s obligation, and indeed a key contributor to its commercial success. This service can be applied to two situations:
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- Individual one-to-one coaching for senior staff.Our approach crosses the boundary between conventional business coaching and a deeper, more therapeutic class of intervention. This means that we can help an individual to address those issues that may have their source in one aspect of life but manifest themselves in another. We not only help the person to resolve the particular challenges they are facing but share with them the tools that will enable them to deal the most emotionally-charged issues that anyone may be facing at any time.
This service is offered on-demand and without any requirement for a minimum volume or frequency commitment of any kind.
- Group facilitationsThis facet of our service enables individuals and/or teams to resolve difficult and damaging disputes, especially where trust has broken down, without the need to go to litigation.
- Individual one-to-one coaching for senior staff.Our approach crosses the boundary between conventional business coaching and a deeper, more therapeutic class of intervention. This means that we can help an individual to address those issues that may have their source in one aspect of life but manifest themselves in another. We not only help the person to resolve the particular challenges they are facing but share with them the tools that will enable them to deal the most emotionally-charged issues that anyone may be facing at any time.
Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) – In-House Training
As one of the very few people around the world to be accredited by the International NLP Trainers’ Association (INLPTA) as an NLP Master Trainer and Coach Trainer, Ian is uniquely placed to train your staff in the philosophies, tools and techniques of Neuro-Linguistic Programming.
He has worked with NLP since 1988 applying its’ methodologies in complex corporate, government, charity and NGO environments across five continents. Clients for accredited NLP programmes have included 3M, Capital One (Europe), Cobham Defence, Coventry Building Society, Dell Computers, Hewlett Packard, Intel, KPMG, Skipton Building Society and the UK’s Civil Service.
In partnership with his long-time colleague Lynne Kerry (a certified INLPTA Trainer) we can offer bespoke programmes tailored to your specific organisational needs while maintaining the integrity of the core NLP processes. The main benefit of this approach is that you can apply the technology to situations and issues important to you in real-time, with immediately verifiable outcomes.
Ian is the first to acknowledge that NLP has a very ‘mixed’ reputation today, often being seen as too ‘soft and fluffy’, manipulative and/or lacking in supportive scientific evidence. This perception is often well-placed and is mainly due to a dilution of its processes resulting from the poor quality skills training and accreditation procedures adopted by many suppliers. Unfortunately, NLP is easy to do badly, not so easy to do well. However, when it is done well, you’ll find it to be the most powerful set of tools, techniques and ways of thinking that are available today in dealing with the greatest challenges that any organisation is likely to face.
Contact us for more information on any of our services
