Mission and values
Our mission is to help lead towards more productive and fulfilling lives, and organisations and teams that function and perform better.
We have the values that you would expect of a consultancy operating in this sector, including openness and honesty, supportive development, curiosity, and integrity. You can assume that we are a listening and thinking organisation, that we are results orientated, and that we attempt to be understanding and supportive. We hope to develop capability but not dependence.
But we think that we are differentiated from other consultancies, too, holding the following values close to our core:
1. Promoting balance in life
Everyone should have the right to balance in life between work, home and leisure time and energy. We should exemplify this and encourage it.
2. Avoiding imposed stress or change
We consider that we do not have the right to impose change or stress on anyone. Change is best directed and managed by an individual for themselves. Imposing change or control normally acts to supress innovative thinking and commitment. We think that delegating responsibility for the direction and development of the individual and the team acts to invigorate and motivate.
3. ‘Social’ view of best-performing individuals, teams and organisations
Human nature is best reflected in belonging and contributing to a group or society, especially if this group is one with which the individual identifies. We believe that our work should reflect the importance of this connection. We should endeavour to provide work opportunities for connecting, for a sense of belonging, for recognition and reward, for self-respect, happiness and confidence within a group or organisation.
4. Opportunities to experiment, grow and develop
Progress is only made when individuals and groups feel free to consider alternatives to the status quo. This will involve experimentation, thinking freely and boldly or attempting new practices. This will, by definition, involve failure, but should, nevertheless, be safely encouraged.
5. Not shirking the tough questions
Change, and investigating the need for change, frequently requires asking compelling but difficult questions. To fully answer these questions, and prepare for better performance in the future, it can help to dig below the surface, to ask ourselves how and why things have turned out as they have, and what might be needed to steer ourselves in a different direction.
6. Providing a safe space for thinking and feeling
Feelings are inextricably involved in both change and normal operations. People will experiment, grow, develop, connect, support, feel, think and perform best when in an emotionally safe environment. We should endeavour to provide this as part of our intervention.
7. Longer-term perspective
We take a longer-term perspective on change and development in individuals, groups and organisations. Whilst we are happy to be judged in both short- and medium-terms, we like to follow our work typically over a five-year time horizon, to monitor longer-term developments and outcomes.
8. Exemplifying the change that is required
Sometimes it can help during a change process if we are able to latch on to a way of thinking and behaving that may serve as a model, upon which we can reflect and, if we so choose, move towards. We hope that we can present good examples for attitudes and behaviours that may model constructive and high-performing ways of working.
9. Orientated around your needs and those of your organisation
In our experience, it can be a distraction to focus on a very academic analysis of a situation, rather than understand how people and groups really feel, the reality of the issues facing the organisation, how these are perceived and experienced, and their influence on performance.
Our consultants are practitioners who are qualified in theory, not academics who might sometimes attempt practical application. We employ highly respected and recognised academics in the development of our modelling, and have studied relevant fields copiously ourselves. We are highly qualified and experienced, but we emphasise real, practical solutions over academic analysis.