Integral Change represents an innovative and evolved way of approaching organisational change that combines psychological and social insights together with an understanding of the invisible systemic dynamics at work in organisations. We work hard to connect up different schools of thought about how change works and where effort needs to be focused, and are continually honing our understanding about what is required to catalyse the most meaningful and sustainable shifts in organisations, via the most elegant and cost-effective means.

Individual Change

In terms of individual change, we are much influenced by the work of Gestalt-based writers such as Zinker, Buber and Perls who focus on the importance of awareness, the 'here and now' and the cycle of experience when understanding how and when change happens. Our understanding of personality and behaviour is much informed by our long and varied experiences with the Myers Briggs Type indicator, and our knowledge of and experience with the Emotional Competence Inventory and the work of Goleman. We are also attracted by the power of psychodrama when exploring individual blocks to development, and have attended workshops to further understand and experiment in this area.

Leadership Capability

Our understanding of leadership capability and efficacy draws on the writing of Bennis and to an extent Kotter. Wheatley and Jaworski have also been influential. The chapter on Leadership in Esther's book (co-authored with Mike Green) Making Sense of Change Management sets out a comparison of the key writers influencing leadership work in organisations, which many of our clients have found a useful primer.

We have also benefitted from Gardner's research into what makes a leader, and from Heifetz and Laurie's investigation into adaptive forms of leadership. Senge's thoughts on how leaders connect up (or not) in organisations have been particularly influential in our understanding of how leadership needs to flow to create a healthy working environment.

Esther's other book (also co-authored by Mike Green) ‘Making Sense of Leadership’ is based on empirical surveying of leaders – 60% of whom work in the public sector – and provides a strong basis for identifying and developing specific behavioural clusters in leaders, in order to provide them with a comprehensive range of ways of addressing different challenges.

Group Development

Our ability to work skillfully with groups and teams has been much influenced by the established work of a number of seminal writers on group and team work (Bion, Glaser & Glaser and Tuckman). There is a whole chapter in the book, Making Sense of Change Management looking at the nature of teams and how they develop or get stuck. Our interventions with teams also draw on a number of research-practitioners such as Isaacs’ work on Dialogue, Critchley’s work on Organisational ‘stuckness’ and Zinker's work on 'good form' in groups, and how to get it.

Organisational Systems

The importance of the ability to work emergently when facing complex systems undergoing transformational change has become a key principle underpinning our work. In this, we are influenced by articles such as ‘Knowing and Acting in Conditions of Uncertainty: A Complexity Perspective’ by Griffin, Shaw and Stacey and books such as Wheatley’s Leadership and the New Science. Gladwell's 'The Tipping Point' has also been influential, and Books such as Konigswieser and Hillebrand’s ‘Systemic Consultancy in Organisations’ and Jan Jacob Stam’s ‘Fields of Connection’ point to the possibilities of working with much greater insight and efficacy within complex systems via identifying and working with the underlying ‘systemic’ levers of change. Papers by Higgs and Rowland, such as ‘All Changes Great and Small: Exploring Approaches to Change and its Leadership’ (Journal of Change Management, June 2005) provide an additional empirical base to claims that working more emergently and less programmatically tends to deliver the best results.

We are grateful for the engaging and resonant work of Oshry, who has developed practical, well-researched and creative ways of seeing things systemically, rather than personally. This has been particularly useful in our work with 'torn' or 'stuck' middle managers, and our understanding of the 'double-binds' that top teams often find themselves in as they over-differentiate in order to survive.

Clients may be less familiar with Hellinger's deeply human approach to understanding what helps family and organisational systems to settle and thrive, and how things can get stuck in very damaging ways. This work has been profoundly influential in our understanding of the importance of acknowledging the past, the precise framing and 'ordering' of organisational roles, the give and take 'tally' between different groups and the deep effects that loyalties and exclusions have on any human system. Our insights into 'what's going on' in client organisations, and in our own lives, are regularly informed by this work.