So started the day. “We saw a pretty girl.” It’s been a long time coming. A company going through a radical transformation – a real one – where the way they work together, talk to each other, share information and make decisions is actually visibly changing.
In our work with culture and transformation, we often talk about the importance of narrative and metaphor. In fact we wrote a report about this just recently. So it’s always pleasing when what we say is illustrated by others – in this case by Greta Thunberg in particular. If you managed to miss her speech to the UK parliament here it is.
During a recent meeting with a prospective client (let’s call him Paul), I was struck by how much he didn’t want us to sell what we did. He seemed to be much more fascinated in how we felt able to "just be ourselves"(his words). At one stage his challenge was “yeah, yeah I know when you are consulting you can do all that. I’m sure you will be good at partnering with us or anyone.
Organisation 'transformation' has become somewhat of a leitmotif. Increasingly, our clients are using the word 'transformation' when they talk about planned or ongoing change efforts. We’ve become curious about what they actually mean and are doing.
“Words create worlds” Abraham Heschel. Generally speaking, I don’t think philosophy is considered to have much practical relevance to organisations. Certainly, when I look back on my early training as a psychologist little attention was paid to questions of philosophy.
Bernard Cornwell’s 1981 novel, Sharpe’s Eagle, follows the exploits of Lieutenant Richard Sharpe in a campaign on the Iberian peninsula during the Napoleonic wars. The Sharpe novels were then adapted for UK channel ITV in the early 1990s, with British actor Sean Bean taking the lead role of Richard Sharpe. He’s the one in the middle.
July 1977 was a hot month in New York City. The temperatures had been in the 80s for weeks. The stench of rotting garbage hung in the air. The sun bounced off the asphalt, as aircon units sputtered and whirred in the windows of apartment blocks.
We are often asked whether we could support a company re-design. The conversation usually starts something like this..."We have decided to re-structure our organisation and would like some help on how to do this well - can you help us"?
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