Often, clients seek a very specific change and simply want help to get this sorted and 'manage the change' - rather than anything more elaborate. For example, they might sense that their management team is not gelling, or doesn't have the required change management skills, or that their customers are not receiving the intended level of service.

On other occasions, clients are not at all sure what they want – but know that ‘something’ isn’t right, and would like some clarity about what that is and how best to shift it. 

Either way, our integral, ‘minimal intervention’ approach is likely to involve the following:

1. Rapid diagnostic work and high quality exchanges with the client to achieve absolute clarity about the issue to be addressed – rather than offering some form of generic intervention that may or may not get to the key underlying issues.
   
   
2. Applying a ‘systemic lens’ to the issue being presented – so the wider context is clear – to avoid any intervention simply shifting the problem somewhere else in the organisation, and ensuring that we do address underlying issues and their causes.
   
   
3. Contracting in a way that provides transparency and the development of trust between ourselves and the key clients – so, as change takes hold, we can adjust our inputs with maximum flexibility and bring a bespoke creativity and responsiveness.
   
   
4. Bringing the best of our experience, skills and knowledge to develop the most appropriate and precise change approach for the particular issue - as defined through dialogue with the client - guided by our Integral Change Leadership Pathway.

Recent work includes:

• helping a complex national charity restructure its Board and management team, by producing a report and recommendations for the Board following interviews with key stakeholders, and then designing and facilitating a 2-day event for the Board, management team and key staff to work through the implications of the report, and to own and align around the way forward.
  
  
• working with an MD to untangle problems arising in the implementation of a centrally-driven 'business improvement' toolkit , by first interviewing key players, and then holding a short workshop to surface and tackle the issues at play.
  
  
• supporting the Assistant Director in local government to tackle the problems emerging in a 12-person leadership team that had become sluggish and argumentative, making no headway on a number of large, pressing issues. This involved a short investigation followed by a two day workshop, which helped to shift the stuck dynamics in a remarkable way.

Client feedback:

“Nick is very insightful and his manner puts people at ease enabling them to fully understand and portray their own situations. His strategic analysis and facilitation skills are excellent."

Deputy Chief Executive of a national charity.

“Esther’s facilitation of our workshop provided a contained, relaxed, safe atmosphere for people to start to be honest about the problems we are facing. During the workshop I received coaching from Esther that I wasn’t expecting, but this proved vital in me playing my part. She also ensured that we went away with concrete agreements, and very skillfully helped us to converge on this without railroading us. Results were immediately evident the next day!”

Assistant Director, Local Government.