The magic of Organisation Science?
The name is intentional. The scientific method with it’s focus on substantiating what works with evidence and data is an underpinning view we hold. In the field of consulting and organisation development there are some methods used by some practitioners that unsubstantiated.
Our questions about our methods are always:
- does it work?
- does it work consistently?
- is it replicable?
- how does work?
- what are the conditions that are needed and that need to be taken into account?
- is it practical?
We never forget that our work is centred around helping you with your business challenges, whether it’s to grow, exit, increase efficiency, improve retention (of customers or employees). What matters are your results and outcomes. We are willing to bet our work on it!
The ‘organisation’ part of our name is intentional too. We are interesting in working with organisations, whether profit based, not-for-profit, academic, public sector or privately owned. We have experience in all of these areas.
Our style
Our style has always been and will always be low key. We believe your results should speak for themselves. Hence the style of this site (simple and to the point) and the style of engaging with us(collaborative and focused). It seems even more relevant in these days of austerity. Creating value is what matters and it’s what we care about.
Our approach to working with clients
We believe in a collaborative approach to working with organisations. This approach was first outlined by Edgar Schein in the 1950’s in his book “Process Consultation”. This approach, as compared to experts who bring packaged solutions that may have general validity, but in fact are not the best prescription for the your organisation, process consultation has the powerful advantage of being by its nature specifically tailored to your situation. Some other ways in which this model of management consulting provides clear and undeniable benefits are as follows:
- Partnership between the client and consultant. The consultant and the client act as equals. The client provides the knowledge of the organisation’s nature, business, and issues; and the consultant provides the knowledge of the techniques, ways of thinking, and practices that can solve the problem. The partnership model ensures against false solutions that may be trendy, clever, and wholesome, but are not in fact fully applicable and sufficiently relevant to the particular organisational development issue.
- Clear maintenance of mutual responsibility. The client owns the problem and determines the solution. The consultant helps the client to see the issues and find what needs to be done. By not imposing a point of view, the process consultant ensures that a real solution, not an attractive but impermanent fix, is obtained.
- Increased capacity for learning. The "masked rider" consultant who provides a silver bullet may be widely honoured and cheered by all upon riding off into the sunset. But too commonly the ammunition doesn't last, and someone has to be called in again. By providing help that learning-based, process consultation ensures increased ability by the client to continue to deal with the situation.
- Better fit with current organisational needs. In the process consultation model, the concept of a learning organisation is second nature. The sharing of problem diagnosis and resolution leads to shared vision. The expert consultant may have a toolkit of best practice methods, but the process consultant will ensure that the tools that are employed will best fit the organisation’s needs and interests.
If this approach resonates with you and you have challenges you want help with, please get in touch.
info@organisationscience.com