We drew an initial "straw man" map of the distribution chain in a complex industry. We refined this with people inside our client organisation. We used the refined map as the basis for conversations with people at different points in the chain. The outcome was a map which showed how distribution was changing, the amount of value that was being exchanged at each point, the roles and goals of different players, how power was shifting and where innovations were taking place. This enabled our client to identify what they needed to do to take advantage of the changes. It also helped understand the complexity and give a common view of the shape and changing nature of the market.
This firm introduced a new operating model and change programme based on ideas from the complexity sciences. Senior management experimented with different ways of engaging staff in the programme. One of these was an Action Learning set which Rowena Davis facilitated over six months with a group of senior professionals from different areas of the firm. The aim was to make sense of the new operating model for their day-to-day jobs. She introduced them to complexity thinking. We explored specific issues they were facing and what was helping and getting in the way of solving these. In the words of one participant: “Rather than being political, judgmental and negative, members of the group were prepared to be reflective and non-judgmental. We were willing to help each other look at the programme and think how we could work better with it”. They took their learning back into the organisation and used it to help implement the change programme
A team of managers felt they were stuck in leading the professionals who reported to them. Through a series of workshops we helped them identify what was blocking them. This helped them 'wake up' to the reality of what they needed to do to move forward. This included communicating better with those above them in the hierarchy; delegating more to staff; and forming specialist sub-groups to share ideas of good practice with staff. They began to engage with their tasks with renewed energy and confidence. Through the process, individual leaders got clearer about their roles and the behaviours they could bring in to achieve the team’s goals.
We worked with the Director and her deputy to clarify their goals for an away-day and how we would work with them and the team. On the day, we introduced the SAVI™ (System for Analyzing Verbal Interaction) grid and asked the team to see if using problem-solving behaviours made a difference. We then worked emergently putting flesh on the goals and seeing what was helping and what was getting in the way of achieving them. Each person identified one thing they wanted to do more of and one they wanted to do less of to take up their roles in the team. The final piece was team next steps. The team was very satisfied with the collaborative climate of the day; having clarified goals; having fun; and the amount of work that got done in an energised way. They also learnt about how to run their team meetings in a more productive and satisfying way.
The organisation was doing well but senior management thought it needed to develop new areas and wanted to check how existing clients viewed the brand. We researched brand perceptions among existing clients and mapped these onto how people in the consultancy saw the brand. We facilitated workshops to jointly make sense of the research and to identify how to address weaknesses and build on strengths. In the CEO’s words, the process was "invaluable" in shifting the organisation forward and helping people to engage with some of the issues that were blocking it from growing the business
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The senior management team initially wanted us to research the needs of potential new members. We went in with an open mind and, from our initial meeting, had a sense they were overwhelmed with initiatives and needed to focus on existing members before recruiting new ones. They confirmed being overwhelmed. The difficulty was they needed to meet targets for new members set by the Board. We asked questions and facilitated meetings. This helped them step back, review their existing information and resources and re-assess their priorities. The issues they were facing became clearer, e.g. needing to upgrade their member database and website and get some activity based costing data. Our questions threw light on the fact that they were already meeting their recruitment targets and had a breathing space of several months before more actively looking for more members. In the client’s words: “Rowena Davis worked with our senior management team to develop a membership marketing strategy. Her insights, analysis and facilitative approach brought essential clarity to a complex issue enabling the team to identify key objectives, and develop a robust longer term strategy.”