The Right Terms

THE

RIGHT TERMS

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What We Do Why We Do It How We Do It Our Outcomes

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We Help Our Clients Avoid Solving The Wrong Problems Really Well.

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WHAT WE DO

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We break down silos and develop broader perspectives on challenges and opportunities We show teams how to turn Complexity into Insight* and Leverage* * The words marked with an asterisk point to (just some of) the loaded words – they are so open to misinterpretation. Our conversations remove the risk and add the meaning to them and that ensures high performance outcomes.

We draw out the full Value* and Potential* that exists within Organisations

We create a ‘Line of Sight’ all the way from Intention* to Execution* We return ownership of Vision* and Strategy* to those who know best

We break the ‘Cycle of Change’ programmes and help to create Adaptive*and Resilient* organisations

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WHY WE DO IT

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It is too easy for individual stakeholders to bias the direction of plans and strategies in their favour without realising it.

If we don’t know where we’re headed then every road will get us there.

Without an agreed ‘mechanism’ ‘for knowing the future we want (defined in ways that are meaningful to all key stakeholders) the risk and cost of failure (missed targets) will be extremely high and potentially disastrous.

We live in a dynamic and connected world. It’s no longer acceptable or indeed viable to look at strategy, planning and initiatives as isolated and/or fragmented activities. It is both highly dangerous and counter productive to do things that get implemented by a select few while everyone else gets on with their day job.

The 21st Century needs 21st Century tools. We’ve observed (in over 2500 cases over the last 15

years) countless attempts by complex organisations and systems to apply traditional thinking to dynamically changing circumstances.

Our approach is designed to enable individuals to think differently and appropriately about what’s next as well as what they have learned and now need to unlearn.There must be recognition of the need to think and operate within a much bigger picture.

One that includes all ‘views’ in order to create the best possible system. (Best possible – effective, efficient, least risk, most in tune with its audiences.)

We haven’t found a single client – across all domains and industries – who is not challenged and hampered by the current silo approach, in itself hugely influenced by the way the organisation is structured and the resulting ways of working.

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Everything th designed to m HOW WE DO IT their challeng

hat is described in this section is make teams really think about ges and opportunities.

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The 5 Dimensions that enable The Resilient Organisation

So many organisations have forgotten how to engage in critical thinking – to take a completely honest, open and objective perspective and unleash the value that exists within the organisation by investing quality time to the topic in question giving people the freedom to actually engage their brains.

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We bring the ‘Art of Conversation’ back to the organisation.

As organisations have grown and become more global and dispersed, silos and ‘tribes’ have become the norm. Meetings become more about checking the boxes, a duty – more and more about simply showing up.

Creating quality conversation is at the heart of how we deliver meaningful outcomes.

We treat all exchanges of perspective and information as conversation – there are many aspects of exchanging insight and collaborating in support of a common purpose and all of this requires the fundamental art of conversation to be recognised and honoured.

We create the space to think and share perspectives in a safe environment.

Because multiple stakeholders in order to progress need such a space to think and converse – and to then emerge with a common framework for moving forward. Initially this needs to be done at pace in order to create a ‘mind-shift’ towards collaborating and co-creating.

Some core principles apply to any group conversation – openness, respect, appreciation of diversity, lack of certainty – in addition to the genuine freedom to share honest perspectives.

We take the principles of collaboration seriously and introduce new ways of working at various stages of the process – up to establishing platforms and spaces for them to sustain work beyond our engagement.

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We leverage our breadth of experience across Industry and Domain while staying completely objective and ‘non specialist’.

We consider ourselves incredibly lucky that we get to travel the world and work with teams across all walks of life.

In our time with them we learn an enormous amount about their challenges, patterns, trends, successes and perspectives. Over the years the insight that has emerged

from this has influenced the way we have developed our Practice and we now know just how valuable clients find the lessons and experiences of others. It can be immensely reassuring for a team to realise that it is not alone with its challenges!

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We focus on building Congruence That Honours Difference and Individualism.

Total alignment is not feasible between different parts of any system but agreed congruence is and our approach delivers that quickly. The combination of logic, objectivity and quality conversation makes

it possible to find synergies, understand alternative views and remove invalid perceptions or assumptions. All conversations are facilitated with extreme sensitivity and integrity. We rely on the logic of our frameworks to ensure that we combine the right perspectives

and insights in the right way, leaving no thoughts out as long as they provide input to the chosen ‘exam question’ (the issue being worked). We create structure within which we can build context and develop insights.

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Just some of the frameworks we apply during assignments. These frameworks are co-created in sessions. They measure some 8 feet tall and 50/60 feet long.

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Our approach is designed around the application of structured visual frameworks.

The Frameworks are the containers within which we can build meaningful context based on a wide appreciation of what is going on around any business or organisation.

The most important thing for us is to achieve the right balance of structure – one that creates a valid framework for the particular challenge, that provides good stimulus for thinking creatively and that makes sure that we make all of the critical connections when it comes to interdependencies and dynamics.

We apply Creative and Inspiring Techniques and Tools.

Visual techniques that engage people in real time, cause rapid transfer of knowledge and engender engagement.

The value in using visuals to convey

meaning is well documented and understood. We make the team an integral part of the process of creation as we apply these underlying principles and combined them with the structure and logic of the frameworks.

Transferring capability is paramount.

We therefore transfer the core logic and approach (tools) to the team so that they can continue to work this way into the future.

We are wholly against an approach that creates a dependency on external providers or ‘agencies’. We’ve been on the receiving end of self serving and partial solutions. By giving the client teams the ability to think differently (for themselves) we can ensure that change and quality thinking is incorporated into the way they work and not just for an event or one-off programme of work.

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OUR OUTCOMES

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Aligned and Coherent Teams Working Together.

An approach that builds teams who answer their critical challenge. An

approach that changes their thinking about their future and works in a way that is appropriate and relevant whatever might emerge to ‘threaten’ them. A greater appreciation of what it means to collaborate is something we ensure as a result of the process we take teams through and the platforms we use to share information with them.

This way of developing vision and strategy gives purpose back to the teams and creates meaning behind their challenges – so while the challenges may still be significant it is much clearer why they need to take action and how it will benefit them.

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A visual map that is developed together quickly becomes a shared ‘blueprint’ – an architecture or model that can ‘govern’ long-term and complex programmes. This makes it unlike any other tool or technique – especially when delivered at scale.

Such an architecture is critical for any organisation wanting to take a more agile and responsible approach to the dynamics of change. With it an organisation can finally break the cycle of lengthy and expensive change programmes.

Imagining A Future Operational Model (Original size – 8 feet tall x 6 feet wide)

A Mechanism To Sustain Value and Impact.

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All complex situations are difficult to navigate and are far better dealt with by breaking down the situation and explaining its meaning in coherent and compelling ways.

An example of a mechanism that emerged to support and govern the service operation (Original size –10 feet wide x 8 feet tall)

A more complete view of the system within which the organisation operates.

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A clear and defensible rationale to support any Business Case.

A significant by-product of the approach is that by going through a rigorously logical process everyone on the team understands how the rationale came about. Armed with this confidence, teams are able to overcome any later challenge from stakeholders not present.

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Ownership and increased Capability inside the Organisation.

Our immersive and inclusive approach is designed for quick and ready engagement, interaction and distribution. At every step there will be ways to engage very much more simply and widely than with other approaches.

As a direct result everybody can own and understand their roles and responsibilities as well as help identify gaps and further implications and issues or opportunities.

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A greater appreciation of the potential for the business and its teams.

An approach that adds an aspirational dimension to strategy and vision raises the bar for those involved.

109 Farringdon Road London EC1R 3BW www.grouppartners.net www.vizify.com/group-partners/links