How we do what we do
To have sustained business success, your people need to be clear on the company objectives, to be aligned with the role they need to play - their function - within the company (the company strategy) and then, crucially, they need to actually play that part (the execution of the strategy). This is true at an individual as well as team level.
A good analogy is that of an orchestra. The musicians all need to have the same musical score, for the musicians to be playing their assigned instruments in their assigned positions and to play their musical part when the score and conductor requires that of them. For the Start-Up or SME, a jazz band might feel like a better analogy: even when there is no musical score per se, in order to be able to improvise well, the band will be starting from a clear musical beginning, will be playing their assigned instruments and will be playing together based on the musical principles of harmony and rhythm etc.
So far, so obvious, right? But in practice, not only are these fundamentals often mis-understood, even if they are understood intellectually, so often, in practice, both individuals and teams can in fact be playing different roles to the ones they think they are playing, often totally unaware! And this can happen even with the brightest, most capable, most talented people. It can be due to a variety of factors, sometimes at the individual level or sometimes at a structural, systemic or a strategic level.
Where are you?
You have to start from where you actually are, not where you think you are. And this is a much more radical, complex task than it seems on paper - hence the need to bring in some experts! We facilitate a process of asking nuanced questions to get clarity, awareness and insights.
Alongside collaborative exercises, one of the perhaps more surprising techniques we draw on is Stillness. There is so much wall-to-wall NOISE in our lives, both professionally and personally. In order to be able to truly question, to contemplate, to reflect on complex strategy or working practices and habits that might have become automatic or reactive, we need to cut through the noise. With some space and stillness, people are able to listen to their own, perhaps quieter but deeper, insights and intelligence that mostly don’t get a chance to be heard because of so much noise and endless activity.
The important thing is not to
stop questioning.
Albert Einstein, Genius and World’s most
famous exponent of Curiosity.
From that space, you can properly question the essentials with curiosity and courage: who is actually playing what role and does that align with the company strategy? If not, why not? Do some aspects of the strategy need to be clarified or adapted? Or is it solely the execution? Are those individuals or teams aware they are not playing the role they need to? If they are not, we help to bring them to that awareness so that they can be co-collaborators in making a shift with willingness and energy. Or is it that some working practices need to be tuned? Of course, an insistence on any kind of homogeneity is fruitless and people will always resist that… Instead, we can help you form clear structures and frameworks which have flexibility to allow people to have a sense of autonomy, as well as space for some continual reflexive questioning.
We can help you to engender - and practice - strategic curiosity, transforming your potential energy into measurable output and allowing your business to
thrive.
Contact Us
We look forward to hearing from you.