Consultancy activities: This is what I know
Consulting in my field (organisational consulting) is notoriously difficult to explain. Before I wrote any books, I was asked by a colleague (an organisational consultant) how I did what I did. It took me several books to answer that question. In many ways the books have been my vehicle to explain what I know and how I know it.
The first book explained ‘what’ I know; from a psychological point of view you can understand anything about an organisation.
The second book explained ‘how’ I do it. I call it ‘Organization Development’ but it is far wider than that. The roles are the Seer, Translator, Cultivator, Catalyst, Navigator, Teacher and Guardian.
The third book begins the tale of the applications of this knowledge: to Organisational change.
What do I know? Most organisational change efforts, especially as devised by large consulting companies, are intellectually and emotionally corrupt.
Savaging the human resources (people) is often unnecessary. The arrogance of the consulting team is supreme.
In the same vein the next book outlines the application of organisational consulting to resolving conflict. What I know here is that a psychological approach alleviates conflict. My key piece of knowing is that participants to conflict must be treated equally.
The fifth book popped into my view while browsing Amazon. It consists of a research paper of mine done during my stay at MIT in my PhD. It was selected by a publishing company called Freedom Press, UK.
The sixth book has nothing to do with my career history, and everything to do with my life history. It is a story/biography about my father. He was a very well-known aviator in his day and his life is peppered with adventure. My book focuses on a grand flight he made in a tiny plane in 1930 in which he flew from England to Australia, around the time of Kingsford-Smith. From being a lone adventurer he became a successful pilot, ending as Chief Pilot of TEAL in NZ.
The seventh book takes me back to Organisational consulting with an explanation of burnout and the mobilisation of energy. What do I know? Burnout is real not a fake illness. It is not fun. You CAN get out of it. It comes from the way you live a life not just how you work. Once out of the worst features of it through rest and sleep, you need to focus on leisure activities not just hours of work.
What my consultancy stands for
The first book explained ‘what’ I know; from a psychological point of view you can understand anything about an organisation.
The second book explained ‘how’ I do it. I call it ‘Organization Development’ but it is far wider than that. The roles are the Seer, Translator, Cultivator, Catalyst, Navigator, Teacher and Guardian.
The third book begins the tale of the applications of this knowledge: to Organisational change.
What do I know? Most organisational change efforts, especially as devised by large consulting companies, are intellectually and emotionally corrupt.
Savaging the human resources (people) is often unnecessary. The arrogance of the consulting team is supreme.
In the same vein the next book outlines the application of organisational consulting to resolving conflict. What I know here is that a psychological approach alleviates conflict. My key piece of knowing is that participants to conflict must be treated equally.
The fifth book popped into my view while browsing Amazon. It consists of a research paper of mine done during my stay at MIT in my PhD. It was selected by a publishing company called Freedom Press, UK.
The sixth book has nothing to do with my career history, and everything to do with my life history. It is a story/biography about my father. He was a very well-known aviator in his day and his life is peppered with adventure. My book focuses on a grand flight he made in a tiny plane in 1930 in which he flew from England to Australia, around the time of Kingsford-Smith. From being a lone adventurer he became a successful pilot, ending as Chief Pilot of TEAL in NZ.
The seventh book takes me back to Organisational consulting with an explanation of burnout and the mobilisation of energy. What do I know? Burnout is real not a fake illness. It is not fun. You CAN get out of it. It comes from the way you live a life not just how you work. Once out of the worst features of it through rest and sleep, you need to focus on leisure activities not just hours of work.
What my consultancy stands for
- a psychological understanding of the organisation
- process facilitation
- understanding the dynamics of the emotional state of the organisation
- resolving conflict between organisational units
- resolving conflict between people: explaining one person/ group to another
- deep transformation of the organisation
- salvaging a turnaround situation
- unleashing employees' and managers' potential
- cultivating the creative processes in the organisation, creatively
- more effective implementation of strategy