Interactions - Creative Strategies for Business

when is enough enough?

2008-05-11T22:38:47Z

When is enough enough? San Francisco based Psychoanalyst Dr Owen Renik says

The profession is in a great decline, and I predict the decline will continue. The reason for it, and the reason a corrective is needed now, is that although psychoanalysis began in a spirit of open-ended inquiry, with an orientation above all to be helpful to the patient, it took on a self-perpetuating guild mentality that was its ruin. The possibility is still open to reverse the decline, but it will be necessary to escape the clutches of an establishment that, unhappily, has increasingly gotten away from the original scientific enterprise.

He goes on to say

There is a tendency among psychoanalysts to pursue self-awareness as a goal in itself, rather than a means to an end. Originally, the idea was that the self-understanding that arose as a result of psychoanalysis was unique and impressive and valid because it afforded relief from symptoms that were otherwise impossible to treat. If you don’t require that self-awareness be validated by symptom relief, there are two destructive consequences. The first is scientific. You have no independent variable to track; you set up a circular situation in which it’s the analyst’s theory that determines what is found in analysis. Many critics of psychoanalysis have recognized this.

The points he raises are interesting in themselves, but they also relate to any kind of inter-personal and professional relationship – when is enough enough? And what kind of methodologies do you use to determine if you your intervention is (a) appropriate? (b) working? or (c) past its sell by date? There is always the temptation to keep clients wanting more. I don’t see coaching in particular as an endless process. There comes a time when you have to say goodbye – often times it’s the coach who has to determine that if a client appears to be too reliant on their coaching process and reluctant to move on and it's sometimes the case that a client is ready to move on long before a coach or consultant is willing to let go. Renik goes on to say

You should have a criterion for judging whether the outcome is satisfactory, which leaves you free to judge by trial and error. If the treatment seems sufficient, you stop. You can always resume the therapy when and if there’s a need. What might also happen along the way, you might become aware of other things that then you define as symptoms, and you want to address those. Let’s say you have trouble dating, for example. We discover when we look into it that you have trouble asserting yourself, and that applies in a number of areas, including your work life. So we go on, until you are able to make progress there. If you’re not having symptom trouble after that, there’s no reason to keep analyzing stuff. That’s it. You’re done.

I think the same is true of any kind of coaching or consulting, particularly if it’s a one to one relationship and where the identity of the consultant gets tied up with the assignment. If the job is done, it’s done and it’s time to move on – dealing with the personal nature of ending and rejection is something that consultants need to integrate into their practice. I know when I was working as a therapist I had regular supervision where I addressed endings and beginnings on a regular basis. Now that I’m consulting I try to build in some kind of formal ending process with clients – be that a review or other – to mark the transition. But as Renik says –

there’s no reason to keep analyzing stuff. That’s it. You’re done.

Can social networking kill your business?

2008-05-08T09:14:58Z

I'm a fan of social media and I have found blogging a great way of building my business and brand. Blogging has been a fantastic networking tool and a great way of translating that networking into real contact with real people. But there's also a dark side to social networking and Frank Marafiote picks up this issue in his post How Social Networking Can Kill a Business. In reputation based businesses bad word of mouth can have a devastating impact and social media is virtual word of mouth. Frank republishes a not too flattering review of a restaurant that appeared in an online forum (without naming the restaurant) and offers some suggestions for how such an incident might be managed for those of us in a similar situation.

First, we need to stay alert to what is being written about us. Just as you might check your credit report on a regular basis, you need to do a “reputation report” on your name and your business. You can purchase services that will monitor your business name and alert you whenever it is mentioned on the Web. You should also do your own frequent searches using the major search engines. By “frequent,” I mean at least twice a month. Second, be proactive. That means staying in touch with your market and providing positive and helpful information via your blogs, press releases, Web forums, trade and business Web sites, etc. Stinging negative comments are less credible when they are read in the context of a positive news environment. Third, react. In the case of this restaurant “review,” there’s a chance that by complaining to the webmaster the comment might be removed. If that is not possible, get third party endorsements — and your own — on the site as soon as possible. Don’t let the mud hang there on the wall with no counter-response. Otherwise, readers will assume it is true.

Damien also has a great post about how to monitor what people are saying about your company online using free online tools such as Google's Blog Search, Google alerts, Youtube, Twitter etc. Social media is a conversation - isn't dialogue better than monologue? And what are our responsibilities in terms of managing those conversations? We can't control what people think and feel about us and social media makes it even more difficult to have a balanced conversation - too many blog posts are rants about what doesn't work - there aren't enough constructive inputs on what does. So part of the social networking process has to be casting a critical eye over who's saying what about whom - there are lots of free tools out there that can help. But perhaps the best way of managing reputation is to take charge of the message by writing and leading rather than commenting and defending. Hat tip Rakes Progress

5.75 questions

2008-05-07T12:53:45Z

Check out this short film from Box of Crayons called The 5.75 questions you've been avoiding. 1 What's going well for you? 2 What are you trying to ignore? 3 What's boring you? 4 How do you want to be remembered? 5 Who do you love? I particularly liked this observation:

Comfort is just boredom with good PR

Hat tip: Chief Happiness Officer

'Professional' 'Arts' 'Organisations'

2008-05-02T03:18:36Z

Very thoughtful post from Andrew Taylor on the way in which our taken for granted stance in relation to professional arts organisations is changing. He says

Consider, for example, the three-word phrase that often crops up at such conferences: ''professional arts organization.'' This phrase captures, in shorthand, the specific category of cultural endeavor we tend to be discussing. Professional arts organizations require professional management, aesthetic integrity, curatorial control, and stable but responsive structures to hold them together while moving their mission forward. These are the standards that drive our teaching and learning about the field. But each of those three words -- ''professional,'' ''arts,'' and ''organization'' -- is in radical flux at the moment. That suggests that a phrase (and an assumption) combining all three could mean less and less in shorthand form.

He goes on to deconstruct each of the three words and also says

what happens to the word ''professional'' when works of comparable quality and skill can be conceived, produced, and distributed without expensive or centralized means of production? Flickr has millions of exceptional images, many shot by individuals with no formal training, expecting no pay, and unfiltered by a traditional gatekeeper (curator, publisher, agent)

This is a critically important dialogue that is going to blur the edges of practice. It's going to have profound implications for stated funded organisations (particularly in countries like Ireland where the aspiration to secure Arts Council funding is both fiscal and a mark of integrity. If anybody can make great work then how do we decide who to distribute the funds to? Read the full post here

thinking out loud about disappointment

2008-04-29T20:44:13Z

I spent a great evening at the White Institute last night where I shared some of my research on disappointment with a fantastic group of people who in turn, shared their experiences of disappointment in organisational settings. This was the first time I’d spoken about my work and I was very nervous and also very excited to see how my thinking would be received. As ever with psychodynamically informed practitioners, the conversations were rich, pregnant and enormously satisfying – I took away more than I contributed and I’m grateful to everyone who participated in the conversation for their generosity and indeed for the welcome I received. Apart from the rich learning around my research topic I learned (again) that I speak too quickly when I am nervous and I really need to address this for future presentations. I get in my own way sometimes in my rush to get out of my own way (if that makes sense) and I’m much more comfortable in conversational spaces than I am in formal presentation ones – but perhaps that’s just another thing to think about and add to the mix. So thanks to everyone who contributed to my thinking and thanks to the White organisation programme for the invitation to share some of that thinking in such welcoming surroundings.

home is where the heart is

2008-04-28T04:22:05Z

Sometimes being in a familiar place can be an unfamiliar experience. I’ve been in New York for the past ten days and the place should technically look and feel the same as it always does. But it doesn’t. Perhaps it’s the fact that I’m a regular visitor to the city now (at least twice a year) or maybe it’s that I’m taking it for granted – but I think it’s probably the people and relationships I am building here that makes the difference. I’ve always felt that I make more sense to myself in this city. The grass is always greener I know, but there’s a constellation of people, places and feelings that are evoked in me when I’m here that’s unlike anywhere else I’ve travelled. New York is the city that never disappoints – and technically it should. I know the city very well, the ride from the airport should be passé – but the Manhattan skyline takes my breath away every time, each time anew, each time a renewed beginning. I’m thinking about this in terms of organisations and what would make going to work a renewing experience every day. With so much energy going into staff retention; work/life balance and work related satisfaction I wonder is it as simple as the relationships we build while we’re there? Work is a social place and organisations are networks of human systems. If, like me, you’re driven by curiosity and a need for conversation then the quality of those relationships make or break an environment. I can’t imagine not having my imagination fed through my work. I can’t imagine not having my heart stimulated by relationships. I know I’ll look back on this trip and see it as pivotal in the relationship I’m having with myself – I look in the mirror each morning and see a difference - the difference is down to the people I know here. If the old cliché that home is where the heart is, is true then the fact that I’m feeling at home here and within myself has to do with that heart connection. I wonder how many of us can say the same of our work lives?

New York, New York

2008-04-16T08:21:30Z

It will be quiet here for the next week or so as I'm flying to New York on Friday. I'm looking forward to catching up with friends, bloggers and soon to be friends alike so please get in touch if you have time for a coffee. I'll be speaking about my current research into the organisation of disappointment at the William Alanson White Institute on Monday 28th April at 7pm. If you'd like a ticket you can book by emailing Carlos Acha or phone 212-873-0725, ext. 10. This will be the first time I've spoken about my work to anyone other than my academic supervisors so I'll be nervous, excited and hopefully not too disappointing. Looking forward to seeing some of you there.

Nuala O'Faolain

2008-04-13T22:40:41Z

I cried on Saturday listening to Nuala O'Faolain talk, in a raw and emotional interview, with Marian Finnucane, about her recent diagnosis of terminal cancer. Her shock and anger was palpable and as with so much of her writing, she spoke from a deep place full of honesty and grace. When asked about having more time she said

Yeah, I was just reading about some best-selling man who says 'Live your dream to the end' and so on and I don't despise anyone who does, but I don't see it that way. Even if I gained time through the chemotherapy it isn't time I want. Because as soon as I knew I was going to die soon, the goodness went out of life.

O'Faolain's memoir Are You Somebody resonated so strongly with me. The depth of her emotion was breathtaking, just as it was on Saturday morning. The raw, real experience of one woman's journey which in its total emotional honesty becomes universal in its meaning. It's hard not to project a set of feelings onto someone else's tragedy - to make it about me and not them particularly when I never had the pleasure of meeting her in the flesh. I hope that however she plans to spend her remaining days she'll find some solace and meaning and be surrounded by a lot of love and I also hope she knows that she is somebody. The full transcript of her interview is here and the podcast of the interview can be listened to here.

Adam Phillips podcasts

2008-04-12T21:26:52Z

Wandering around cyberspace this week looking for interesting podcasts to take with me on the flight to New York at the end of the week brought me to these conversations with Adam Phillips. In BBC Radio 4's Open Book Phillips talks about his most recent book Side Effects and in this shorter clip he talks about Going Sane. There's a longer interview with Phillips recorded at the New York Public Library in May of last year here.

Who am I being that my players' eyes are not shining

2008-04-10T09:54:43Z

Benjamin Zander, conductor and author of The Art of Possibility speaks about leadership in this podcast. One of my favourite quotes is:

Who am I being that my players' eyes are not shining?

Click here to listen Hat tip to Chris

seduction and desire

2008-04-07T21:14:59Z

Recognizing the deep-seated need of the world public to see the Queen mum seated at the toilet, Elton John getting a colonic, and Keith Richards ironing his knickers, Alison Jackson set out to create the images that we really want paparazzi to capture. Armed with cheap photographic equipment, celebrity look-alikes, and a canny sense of what we think people are doing when we're not looking, she creates images that are equal parts belly laughs and pure scandal.

Artist Alison Jackson's TED talk on why we can't rely on our own perception and how what we thing is real may not in fact be is fascinating..Her work is about how photography removes us from reality and the real subject matter through substitution - the role of the image in seduction and desire- fascinating talk..

Email - knowing its place

2008-04-04T09:00:11Z

If E-mail is e-mail then instant messaging is e-whispering or epassinganoteatthebackoftheclass

Check out Matt Moore's simple and very sophisticated presentation on email and where it fits in the landscape of web 2.0 in Peak Email - A Fairy Story.

| View | Upload your own

Podcast: Confidentiality at work

2008-04-02T18:35:09Z

How important is confidentiality at work? and how much of my product offering as a consultant is the guarantee that whatever is told to me will be held in confidence? Are consultants professional secret keepers? and how much of our work is containing and sanitising misdemeanours offering them back as palatable organisational learnings? What or whom are we minding? Following my previous post on confidentiality I invited Johnnie Moore and Matt Moore to talk about these and other confidential matters via Skype this morning and here's the resulting podcast. Show notes follow and thanks to Johnnie for being the sound engineer on the project. Download the podcast by clicking HERE. This is a 9MB file lasting just under 29 minutes. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Show Notes Disclaimer: These are a rough summary of the conversation accompanied by flexible/rough timings. 0.0 Annette How important is confidentiality at work? and how much of my product offering as a consultant is the guarantee that whatever is told to me will be held in confidence? Are consultants professional secret keepers? and how much of our work is containing and sanitising misdemeanours offering them back as palatable organisational learnings? What or whom are we minding? Introductions How important is confidentiality at work? 0.50 Johnnie It’s ‘very important’. It means different things to different people at different times – is it a way of addressing status – I had to sign an NDA etc. Sometimes it’s a status play. It is a way of entrapping the other person in something – am I doing you a favour or am I inviting you into a trap? It’s complex isn’t it? 2.08 Annette How much of the conversation around confidentiality is in fact a seduction – around secrets? 2.18 Matt One way of taking someone into your confidence is to offer them a secret and that has all kinds of levels and layers – does it happen once? Several times? And what happens when you break that trust? Matt talks about his role as an internal consultant and how people entrust him with their secrets and the complexity of the messages and seductions contained within those secrets. 5.18 Annette Annette notes that both Matt and Johnnie are talking about ‘intimacy’ and asks how we set up the conditions for that to take place. Psychoanalyst Adam Phillips talks about how we can set up the conditions for romance but there’s no guarantee that romance will happen – what kinds of ploys do Matt and Johnnie use to set up the romantic conditions for intimacy in the workplace? 6.32 Johnnie Johnnie professes his interest in intimacy and his interest in web tools which foster intimacy. Johnnie talks about the shift from confidentiality as control to a more open sharing of information via Open Space and other similar processes. He talks about relinquishing his role as ‘consultant confessor’ which has become an uncomfortable role. Am I getting in the way by holding a secret? 9.19 Annette What burden is placed on someone designated as ‘knowledge manager’ to manage hidden knowledge – how does Matt manage the externalised ‘known knowledge’ with the internalised ‘unknown’? 9.41 Matt Matt admits to being a hypocrite! The official versus the ‘real’ version of events often conflict. Matt then goes on to say how hypocrisy works in practice – including sanitising stories; the pleasure of being taken into someone’s confidence; the manufacture of intimacy and how hypocrisy functions as a social lubrication. 13.13 Annette Consultants are also politicians in organisations and are we talking here about the context we create (or wish to create) rather than the content of what people are saying? 13.40 Johnnie Creating explicitly ‘confident’ scenarios aren’t particularly enjoyable and neither do they work. Johnnie talks about how this works in practice. 15.43 Annette There is often an assumption that the stories revealed in confidence have more truth than those revealed in public and also we are not capable of hearing or speaking truth in organisations. Does being an internal consultant add another layer to that mix? 16.23 Matt Openness versus closedness is an interesting concept – we need to keep some things private. Matt is often asked to take sides – to join a tribe - and secrets are a way of extending this invitation. Matt talks about respecting the invitation while not getting pulled in.. 19.15 Annette Scepticism is useful – our relationship with secrets and confidences is influenced by splits good/bad; useful/unhelpful – can we strike a balance between them? Respecting what this intervention has to offer for this system? 20.12 Johnnie Explicit confidentiality agreements can serve to shut down the sharing of confidences and sensitive information – the opposite is often the case. The paradox here is that less is shared when the discussion is explicit – when it becomes ritualised it becomes less effective. Johnnie talks about the difference between hard and soft trust. 22.07 Annette There is a dance in negotiating confidence – in removing that dance we give a message that there is apart of me or thoughts I want to share that are unacceptable. 22.48 Johnnie Johnnie asks about what that negotiation means – is it explicit? Is it implicit? What does it look like? 23.21 Annette Annette talks about unconscious and non verbal negotiations that invite revelation – seeking permission to inquire about someone’s personal story. 23.50 Matt We prefer to have soft trust – informal trust but we fall back on hard trust and the rules when that isn’t guaranteed and when there are issues of power and status at play. If you are genuinely sharing yourself you make yourself vulnerable and organisations are treacherous places… 25.07 Johnnie Perhaps it’s our job to be the ones who are willing to be vulnerable – it’s easy to revert to rules but it’s useful to talk about our own vulnerabilities as it gives permission to those we work with to talk about theirs. 26.16 Annette We have all kinds of things in our consultancy toolkits but feelings are the primary ones that I draw on 26.30 Johnnie Suggests pausing the conversation there for now.. 27.07 Annette Thanks to Matt and Johnnie for sharing their thoughts.

On being human

2008-03-30T20:25:20Z

To be human is to try continually, though to be human means at the same time to fail continuously. We're the attempt, not the attainment.

Disappointment or the light of the common day Bruce Fleming, p. 9

Meaning and Motivation at Work ISPSO 2008

2008-03-29T14:55:58Z

The annual meeting of ISPSO takes place in Philadelphia between 20 and 22 June this year. The title of this conference is Meaning and Motivation at work. If you are interested in how organisations 'really work'; and are curious about how emotion and unconscious processes influence how and what gets done then this gathering of consultants, managers and academics is the place to be. Before the main part of the proceedings there are four days of professional development workshops (16 - 19 June) open to anyone to attend. The questions being covered this year include:

How does one effectively market psychoanalytic work? How does photography introduce new power into understanding organizations? When consulting or coaching assignments involve working through impasse, what methods can encourage transformation? What can organizations do to build resistance to corruption in their work?

There are any more fascinating topics - so if you are in the Philadelphia area and are curious about a psychoanalytic approach to working and organising check out the full schedule here. There's more information about ISPSO here and the full conference schedule is available here.

In confidence

2008-03-27T14:42:09Z

One of the unchallenged tenets of consultancy is the concept of confidentiality. In the course of assignments I am often assumed to hold a confidential space and for many years I accepted this principle as a central hypothesis in my work. While the concept of confidentiality is always discussed in therapeutic relationships, I am finding myself more and more curious about why consulting clients are not as ready to have conversations about this concept in the same way. In more recent times I have also become more interested in the concept of confidentiality and how it is constructed as a mechanism for the distribution of power within organisations. As a society I see an ongoing struggle between what is useful in terms of confidentiality and what is sacrificed as a result of it. The discourse here in Ireland surrounding the Catholic Church and the various tribunals etc – have all contributed to new interpretations of what confidentiality means and constructs. In each of these situations, power and confidentiality appear to sit side by side. So I’ve been developing a series of hypotheses about confidentiality and consulting 1. The first is that my role as consultant is often defined by the confidentiality I offer – as though I “own” the concept and bring it “to” my clients. My credibility in the organisation can be defined by the way in which I manage and navigate the concept i.e. I retain sole responsibility for it. 2. The second is that the stories that are revealed “in confidence” are perceived to contain the “truth” of the organisation – those stories revealed openly as part of the lived experience of clients are merely one level of engagement. 3. The third is that those who reveal the most “dramatic” stories in a confidential setting can be perceived to be the most “honest” members of an organisation and maintain a powerful position as a result of their ability to “say it as it is”. As a consultant I am often invited to hear the stories, be influenced by them and synthesise the meaning into something more objective and less personal. In many cases this may result in little sense of ownership and participation on the part of those interviewed in conversations concerning the co-constructed nature of challenges and more importantly the co-constructed nature of moving forward. This places the consultant in a powerful position within organisations, particularly as we continue to live in a culture that values information as currency. So in recent times I have opened up this whole issue of confidentiality as part of the contracting phase with clients and begun to question what confidentiality means and how I am being used as a container for the client’s secrets. I have also begun to reframe the conversation about confidentiality by asking these kinds of questions: • What are the limits of confidentiality? • What would a ‘safe enough’ environment look like? • How can we jointly create a safe enough space in which we can tell the stories that need to be told and heard in order to move forward? • How is power distributed in this organisation and how does confidentiality contribute to that? • How can we begin to distribute empowerment in this organisation? Tracking and discussing the shifts in the power relationships with clients is a way of holding power ‘for them’ as distinct from ‘instead of them’. It may be necessary for me to hear and hold confidential content while at the same time exploring what confidentiality means for this client and how each of us are being made and re-made in each others’ presence. I now welcome a richer conversation about confidentiality – one that addresses content and context and hopefully one that challenges a few ‘taken for granted’ stories about the power of secret keeping.

Working spaces

2008-03-23T19:23:40Z

Photographer Saul Robbins takes photographs of chairs. Therapists' chairs - from the viewpoint of the patient.

For many, the role of the psychotherapist holds significant weight, and the importance given to him or her is one of great influence in many people's lives. By examining the empty therapist's chair, I encourage viewers to consider the place of power it holds, quite literally, in so many people's lives, as well as the person who sits in it, across from them, on a weekly basis.

Robbins' photographs grace an article in the March 6 edition of the New York Times in which Penelope Green asks What's in a chair? The article is an exploration of the physical spaces in which therapists work and she asks a number of interesting questions - what is the impact on a patient's therapeutic process when the sessions take place in a therapist's house? or when the decor or arrangement of the room gives something away about who the therapist 'really is'?

Few therapists today would contend that it’s possible or even desirable to present oneself as a true blank slate, with an office and treatment style utterly free from personal influence. And so the conversation now centers on degrees of influence and revelation: is a family photograph too much? What about the family dog?

The real question that's not addressed in the article is - why are some therapists (and for this read consultants, coaches etc) so grandiose that they think they can control the patient/client's transference? There's a difference between flaunting one's personal life in the face of clients and bringing oneself fully into the room/relationship. The physical presence we create says as much about us as practitioners as the psychological and emotional one. What's absent from a room says as much about someone as what's present. I don't have a lot of time for practitioners who angst about controlling clients' emotional and unconscious lives with the subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) inference that the therapist or consultant's 'real life' is somehow split off and unimportant in building a working alliance. A therapist's life is not a contaminating quality. As a therapist and consultant I work with who is in the room and with what is presented in the room - consciously and unconsciously. I am not and neither do I believe I have the right to attempt to be in control of the client's experience of me. I wonder how many therapists and consultants are really comfortable in a space where the free reign of a client's unconscious is unleashed in the room? Co-incidentally? Psychoanalyst and writer Adam Phillips is the subject of the Guardian's Writers' Rooms series in which he talks about the physical space he has created in which to write (his consulting room has been photographed many times for various interviews).

A Stroke of Insight

2008-03-18T00:08:37Z

So who are we? We are the life force power of the universe, with manual dexterity and two cognitive minds. And we have the power to choose, moment by moment, who and how we want to be in the world. Right here right now, I can step into the consciousness of my right hemisphere where we are -- I am -- the life force power of the universe, and the life force power of the 50 trillion beautiful molecular geniuses that make up my form. At one with all that is. Or I can choose to step into the consciousness of my left hemisphere. where I become a single individual, a solid, separate from the flow, separate from you. I am Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor, intellectual, neuroanatomist. These are the "we" inside of me. Which would you choose? Which do you choose? And when? I believe that the more time we spend choosing to run the deep inner peace circuitry of our right hemispheres, the more peace we will project into the world and the more peaceful our planet will be. And I thought that was an idea worth spreading.

Neuroanatomist Jill Bolte Taylor had an opportunity few brain scientists would wish for: One morning, she realized she was having a massive stroke. As it happened -- as she felt her brain functions slip away one by one, speech, movement, understanding -- she studied and remembered every moment. This is a powerful story of recovery and awareness -- of how our brains define us and connect us to the world and to one another.

More about strategy

2008-03-11T11:45:13Z

I'm wondering whether much of our efforts to create strategy, rather like cultivating leadership skills, are based on a rather idealistic notion of what really goes on in organisations. And possibly actually conceal rather than acknowledge the very individualistic expectations of the supposed strategists...

I meant to pick up on this great post from Johnnie some time ago but I've been too busy working on strategies with clients! Seriously though, of course he's right. There's a lot of idealisation around strategies - as though a strategy is a fixed object of wisdom (preferably published in a book) that when published will reveal the way ahead. Strategies are about now, and how we see the future from this vantage point - so I am more interested in cultures of strategising than I am in trying to control the future. Having said that, I've experienced a lot of fear amongst some clients of wanting something different in the future - as though admitting their desire will in some way ensure it can't be realised. Strategising means a degree of making the fantasy real to some extent and consultants can be pressurised into containing that fear by providing the framework (or offering their own wishes and interpretations of what's possible). So I agree with Johnnie and at the same time ask my usual question which is - how are consultants and facilitators used in that process to do a job on behalf of the client system?

The value of knowing what you don't know

2008-03-11T11:36:43Z

I’m increasingly beginning to believe that successful consultation processes create, at their core, the possibility for all participants to say “I don’t understand that” or “I don’t know”. And I also believe that the approach I take as a consultant to meeting with consultees sets the tone for how the conversation around knowledge and not knowing is generated. “Not knowing” is one of those hackneyed phrases that lives in the same box as “excellence” (I’m sure you can add to the list)…essentially they are meaningless and meaningful in equal measure. I’ve had several great conversations this week with people who profess to “not knowing” anything about the arts. Some have even gone so far as to label themselves “philistines”. Never one to accept something at face value, I inquired further and of course all of these people knew much more than they thought they did about the arts….some haven’t had the official “jargon” with which to talk about the topic - others didn’t know that what they knew counted for expertise about the subject. I’ve deliberately held “meetings” in informal places. I’ve resisted wearing a suit and the informality of the setting has gone some way to an increasing comfort level and much creativity in the conversation. I guess in each of these cases I have started from the perspective that we all know more than we do and the conversation must be structured around the meaning of “not knowing”. In the past few weeks I’ve learned the following from people who have claimed not to know what they were talking about.

We all know much more than we think we do When someone tells me they “don’t know” I hear “I don’t know how” All we need is an invitation to reflect on what it is we think we don’t know anything about Informal conversations are as important as formal ones – in a jargon defended arena informality can create a safe place in which to be creative If someone tells me “I don’t know” I inquire into what it is they do know

The importance of remembering

2008-03-02T16:18:51Z

Sitting amongst 1000 other people listening to Joe Jackson on Friday evening I was struck by the importance of remembering. I, like many of those present, remembered the first time we heard Is She Really Going Out With Him? Most people knew the lyrics and sang along to the set list..we were transported back to 1979 and the overwhelming feeling was one of nostalgia, belonging and the collective sense of remembering. Why do we spend so much time in organisations dreaming about the future? Strategising? planning? hoping? moulding ourselves into a fantasy of what the future will bring? Why don't we spend more time remembering? Remembering what brought us together in the first place? the ideas, values and dreams that were supposed to be worked out in this gathering of people. If more planning processes attended to the reasons why we started this rather than rationalising why we should stay together then like most relationships (personal and professional) we could start from a place of shared commitment..maybe I'm wrong about this .. but sitting in that theatre on Friday night I know that we could have moved mountains out of our shared emotional connection. Remembering is a present tense activity .. maybe we need a bit more of it, more of the emotional connection.. In the meantime...

See you at the awards on Saturday

2008-02-28T21:34:41Z

I'm looking forward to meeting Ireland's blogging commuity at the Irish Blog Awards on Saturday in the Alexander Hotel. Please make sure to say hello if you see me about. In the meantime, check out the other blogs that are shortlisted (with yours truly) in the the Best Business Blog category and don't forget the sponsor of this section - First Partners and Mr Mulley - the uber organiser. Good luck to all the nominees. * Brightspark Consulting * Bubble Brothers * Pat Phelan * Keith Bohanna * Ice Cream Ireland * BH Consulting Blog * The Blacknight Blog * O’Conall Street * McGarr Solicitors * Worldwide Cycles * Fortify Your Oasis * Frank Fullard Update: Congratulations to Kieran Murphy from Ice Cream Ireland who scooped the Best Business Blog Award at last night's event. Be warned, Ice Cream Ireland is a chocaholic's paradise...don't go over there on an empty stomach. (Apologies to Keith for scooping that metaphor, I couldn't resist)

The Tavistock Blog

2008-02-28T09:33:06Z

The Director of the Tavistock Institute in London is blogging. My colleague Phil Swann was a journalist in a previous life so expect great things from Swann's Way. So far he's talking about electing mayors (in London and New York); the value of storytelling in organisations; the importance of organisational dynamics in the recent loss of financial records of 25 million citizens in the UK and the absence of social science representation at the recent Times Higher Education Supplement’s awards ceremony.

But overall social science had a very low profile. I cannot decide whether that is because of a mature aversion to Grosvenor House, a lack of pride, a bias among the judges, or because it didn’t deserve any prizes.

I'm looking forward to reading more over at Swann's Way.

Poetry, passion & measuring value

2008-02-26T22:25:28Z

I had a conversation with a poet this week about how the value of something like poetry (which, in comparison to many other art forms is a relatively niche area) is captured. Our discussion centred on the ways in which we value experience and how increasingly, that is through quantitative measures. A poetry festival can never compete in terms of numbers with a music festival and a music festival can never compete with a soccer match. So if the numbers are the only way in which we can attach value then we’re losing before we start. Our discussion evolved into one of how to capture the quality and value of experience. In our social and personal lives we can speak to this with ease and comfort but we find it difficult to attach a value to it when we get “organised”. Of course, this is relevant in the world of consulting and business as well. How can I add value to what it is I do in a way that is meaningful to me, to my client and to what happens as a result of our time together? My poet colleague remarked on the feedback he hears each year which is about the intimacy of the surroundings, the quality of the engagement between readers and audiences and the informal way in which conversations evolve out of the formal task of the enterprise. As I’ve mentioned before, it’s not always possible to know what you know. That space in between is where the real added value happens. That real added value isn’t something that can be sold or promised. It’s something that’s created when the quality of the experience is significant. So the relationship is the thing – and tending to that means

Listening as well as hearing
Knowing when not to talk
Taking time to reflect on what each brings to the relationship as well as what each takes away
Knowing what baggage as well as luggage is carried
Knowing that it isn’t the client’s responsibility to make up for previous bad experiences I have had with others
Knowing that it isn’t my responsibility to prove to the client that I won’t repeat the same damage as a previous consulting experience has

And ultimately

Knowing who I am and what I want out of this relationship

And that’s as well as doing the job I’ve been hired to do. I often wonder if we were to put as much effort into our personal relationships, in terms of courses, methodologies, evaluations etc as we do into the science of managing relationships with clients, what the world would look like. Is it that we can see the prize in business but can't in our personal lives? I guess I think of myself as being in the business of joining up the dots between both which is why the balance between one-on-one consulting and larger consulting engagements suits my skill base, personality and passion. It also seems to attract clients who are interested in resolving problems while learning the lessons they contain.

more happiness please

2008-02-25T18:32:09Z

Why, when we can choose any level of happiness, do so many of us choose something less - often much less - than bliss? Most of us - most of you reading this blog - lived truly charmed lives. And yet we choose other emotions like sadness, frustration, envy, disappointment.

So asks Lisa over at Management Craft. I don't believe we can control our feelings .. neither do I really believe we can control our emotions. I also have to admit to being somewhat sceptical of the 'happiness industry' that's blooming right now. I simply don't believe that applying a cognitive frame to our emotional lives works. So much of what we feel is generated in work environments where there are socially negotiated 'rules' about what emotion is acceptable/preferable in that setting. Organisations are emotional and emotion generating environments - if my team wins a contract and I'm happy is that because I'm a happy person and brought that to work with me this morning or is it as a result of something that happened at work? Likewise with other emotions. Splitting off happiness as something we can have more of by excluding the rest of the emotional spectrum doesn't fit with any frame of reference I know - short of sublimating or splitting it really doesn't work.

The pleasure of unfinished business.

2008-02-25T15:17:49Z

Walking around Gaudi's masterpiece, La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona is an interesting lesson in the pleasure of unfinished business. Started in 1882 it's estimated that the church will be finished some time between 2028 and 2048 - that's if the new TGV, planned for just outside the walls of the church, doesn't topple what's there already. There were hoards of visitors there on a sunny Saturday morning - all of us marvelling at the architecture, the vision, the timeline! I found myself much more interested in what was going on inside (the really unfinished bit) rather than the outside. It's noisy, cold and dusty in there and I believe on a weekday there are up to 150 people working away.

The structure is evolving and changing all the time and I did wonder if its unfinished state is what people are coming to see. Will the crowds still come in 20 - 40 years time when all is done and dusted and the church is finally revealed in its completed state. Somehow a 'finished' building doesn't seem half as interesting to me as one in progress...the same is true of people - finished ones are simply never as captivating as ones in progress.

Social Bookmarking is all grown up

2008-02-19T09:28:56Z

While browsing through Sage Publications website this morning I was interested to see that they are including social bookmarking as an option. They include CiteULike, Connotea, del.icio.us, Digg, Reddit and Technorati. Additionally their explanation of Social Bookmarking is provided by Wikipedia..It looks like social bookmarking is all grown up...

Life in six words or less

2008-02-18T07:59:35Z

Legend has it that Hemingway was once challenged to write a story in only six words. His response? “For sale: baby shoes, never worn.”

I've become hooked on Smith Magazine's six word memoirs. Here are a few of my favourites

Fifteen years of therapy for this?! Missed today while planning for tomorrow. An artistic existence from random stuff.

What a great idea for working with groups? I occasionally use Haiku as a way of focussing on what people really want to talk about - or, as a way of evaluating or summarising a wide ranging process. So - what would your six word or less statement be? Here are a couple I composed earlier:

Conversations matter… talking to myself again?

Be rational … always an irrational request

I'm going to tag a few people to get started...Terence, Johnnie, Lori, Matt.

Pärting is such sweet sorrow

2008-02-17T08:50:00Z

I'm one of the lucky ones who has tickets for four of the concerts in RTE's Living Music Festival which is dedicated to the work of Arvo Pärt this weekend. The opening concert on Friday night at the National Concert Hall was magnificent and more than a few people commented on how long it has been since they experienced the kind of electricity in the air that was present in the building that night. Perhaps it had to do with the presence of the composer who received rapturous applause when he came to the stage - combined with the fabulous performance from the RTE Philharmonic Choir and the National Symphony Orchestra (and guest soloist Joanna MacGregor) which made the night a very special and memorable one. It was clear from the mix of people in the building that Arvo Pärt attracts a 'non traditional' classical music audience - 'total crossover' is how one colleague described. When I hear people moan about the licence fee and the paucity of programming on our national station I'd like to point them in the direction of what's happening this weekend. I, for one, am delighted that my licence fee and my taxes are going to support this event. This afternoon I'm off to hear the RTÉ Vanbrugh Quartet at the National Gallery, then Crash Ensemble at the Samuel Beckett Centre and back to the National Concert Hall for the final concert in the series tonight. The full programme for the event is here. And here's one of my favourite Pärt pieces Spiegal Im Spiegal (thanks Sinead). Check out what other bloggers are saying about this weekend, Karlin, Shane and Sinead Daithí

But is it art?

2008-02-16T19:35:19Z

The Creature Comfort people tackle that great existential question in this short video

What's wrong with therapy?

2008-02-11T19:24:14Z

I'm preparing a workshop for a group of psychotherapy students on 'contemporary issues in psychotherapy' and am interested in unravelling assumptions (well some assumptions) about therapy being useful and a good idea so if anyone would care to contribute some thoughts I'd be really interested...I'm particularly interested in the cultural and political aspects...I won't say any more for now - comments and email would be welcome. I'm hoping Johnnie, Mark, Mike and a few others might chip in?

Shortlisted for the Irish Blog Awards

2008-02-11T13:40:41Z

Irony of ironies - following this post who would have thought that I'd be shortlisted in the Best Business Blog category at the Irish Blog awards? The good people over at First Partners are sponsoring the category and to see the company I'm keeping these days have a look at the other short listed blogs in this category. * Brightspark Consulting * Bubble Brothers * Pat Phelan * Keith Bohanna * Ice Cream Ireland * BH Consulting Blog * The Blacknight Blog * O’Conall Street * McGarr Solicitors * Worldwide Cycles * Fortify Your Oasis * Frank Fullard Thanks again to everyone who voted for me - I'm looking forward to the awards ceremony and to meeting many of these people in person on 1 March in Dublin.

No diagnoses & no solutions - I'm a bad blogger

2008-02-11T10:07:36Z

Blogging has been lite the past few months. Due in some part to other commitments and due in no small part to a degree of disillusion on my part as to what I have to offer in this medium. If I pay attention to how it 'should' be done I would regularly offer 10 Tips to Success/remedy/sorting your work and life out and continue in the vein of so many established bloggers by generating a problem/syndrome and offering a remedy. My disillusion and my increasing optimism comes from knowing that life isn't that simple - if only it was. If only I could diagnose in 5 minutes flat and quickly write a prescription that would make it all better. I see so many consultants falling into this trap in the work world and then watch them wonder why there is so much cynicism about the profession. Over promising and under delivering is the consultant's syndrome. I see so much of it in the blogging world as well - bullet points, simple solutions, increasing helplessness on the part of those of us who simply 'don't get it' and the roundabout goes on. I've fallen into this trap myself - I do have 'rules' of a kind but I tend to play fast and loose with them - perhaps I've adopted the lingo of the blog world in an attempt to slot in? But increasingly I'm uncomfortable with it and as a result my blogroll will undergo a massive spring clean in the next week or so. My increasing optimism comes from wanting to put down the burden of writing a 'useful blog' and giving myself the freedom to think about abandoning this space altogether - I've no plans to quit just yet - but thinking about it has certainly fired the creative juices again. Perhaps I've ignored my meta rule which is - work with what's staring you in the face instead of trying to ignore it'. So no quick diagnoses or solutions to be found here ... I eschew the bullet points ..and I invite you to slap me on the wrist if I fall into complacency mode in 2008. Edit: Matt, of course, got here before me ... Further Edit (thinking out loud) of course this really is a cry for help on my part - I want a simple 3 step plan to solving this dilemma I find myself in - all answers on a bullet pointed post card please.

Ode to Super Tuesday

2008-02-08T09:58:06Z

Jill Sobule and Rives give their interpretation of Super Tuesday when

30 zillion voters in 20-something states pick from just a half a dozen candidates..

on NPR's Bryant Park Project Hat tip to TED I wonder if Rives will be performing in New York at the end of April?

Social media and the arts in Ireland

2008-02-03T21:02:01Z

Good to see the Sunday Times Culture section taking an interest in the wider cultural implications of social media. Kathy Foley’s piece in today’s paper Clique Here (for which I was interviewed) touched on the usual stories (Facebook is costing businesses a fortune in wasted time etc) as well as raising some (of what I consider to be really interesting) questions about the implications for arts and cultural organisations about the way in which people are organising their social lives online. If we’re now living in a ‘drag and drop’ culture what does this mean for the quaintly old fashioned notion of gathering people at 8pm in one venue for the shared experience of theatre performance? Why (still…) are so few Irish arts organisations using social media and web 2.0 technologies to produce and present work not alone using those spaces to publicise that work? What are the implications for the funding of artists who may wish to work in virtual spaces? What may be the implications for physical spaces if so much social and cultural activity is taking place online? What about those clearly defined lines between the ‘amateur’ and ‘professional’ artist when it comes to funding and credibility? Oh I could go on and on and on about this and there’s a real need in my opinion for intense debate about these (and other issues). I sometimes feel like I'm talking to myself about this one..I’m hoping Kathy and other (note Irish Times) will write more on this subject over the coming months..

Best Business Blog - the longlist is leaked

2008-01-30T12:48:31Z

Damien has a new strategy for announcing the long list of nominated blogs for the Irish Blog Awards this year. The lists in each category are being 'leaked' by those in the know and First Partners (sponsors of the Best Business Blog) have released the longlist for that category. So if the leaks are accurate Interactions has made the first round. Thank you to whomever nominated me (I didn't nominate myself) and what illustrious company to be in. The awards ceremony will be in the Alexander Hotel on Saturday 1 March. Edit: Interactions has also been nominated for the long list in the Best Blog category - lots of really interesting posts there - thanks again to those who nominated me.

The New York Review of Books on Blogging

2008-01-29T21:12:46Z

Political blogs are among the trickiest to capture in a book because they tend to rely heavily on links and ephemeral information. But even blogs that have few or no links still show the imprint of the Web, its associative ethos, and its obsession with connection—the stink of the link. Blogs are porous to the world of texts and facts and opinions on line. (And this is probably as close as I can come to defining an essence of blog writing.)

The New York Review of Books has a wonderfully literate piece on blogs by Sarah Boxer- what they are, how they are written and where they fit in the lexicon of the written word.

It's the flying. It's the suspension of punctuation and good manners and even identity. Bloggers at their computers are Supermen in flight. They break the rules. They go into their virtual phone booths, put on their costumes, bring down their personal villains, and save the world. Anonymous or not, they inhabit that source of power and hope. Then they come back to their jobs, their dogs, and their lives, and it's like, "Dude, the ball." Blog writing is id writing—grandiose, dreamy, private, free-associative, infantile, sexy, petty, dirty. Whether bloggers tell the truth or really are who they claim to be is another matter, but WTF. They are what they write. And you can't fake that. ;-)

Hat Tip Fergal

My Imagination Mansion

2008-01-28T09:13:20Z

Matt's secret life as a poet is well out of the bag at this stage. I told him I was thinking a lot about disappointment right now and he invited me to search Flickr and send him ten images with my comments - but not the search terms I used (you can see the images and the comments here) - I also sent him some of my writing and he has written the following which I love! I particularly like the expression 'imagination mansion'. Now the difficult bit is reciprocating with something interesting for Matt...if anyone has any suggestions.. 7H I draw the plans in hope and 7H pencil on the back of a flattened cigarette packet (smoking may harm your unborn baby). They are sumptuous, stunning, mine. They are, however, but a pale shadow of my house of dreams. My imagination mansion. Diamonds and mahogany, marble in majesty, but still tastefully done. I have the plans transferred onto vellum with gold leaf letters from the finest oriental calligrapher stolen money can buy. The authorities approve my wishes with only minimal bribing required. The builders are engaged at sufficiently exorbitant rates to appease my ego, and I plant the opal foundation stone on the first day of work to rapturous applause from hired lackeys. Slowly the house of my dreams rises from the ground like the geological event it is; then burrows under the earth, a regal mole blind to its own beauty. Three months in, there is a stock market correction. I stand, corrected, humiliated, broke. The house is half-done and alone. A perfect ruin already. I burn the plans and float away on the smoke.

A vision of students today - the research process

2008-01-25T08:28:37Z

I've mentioned this video before - A Vision of Students Today - from a working group of Kansas State University students and faculty and now Professor Michael Wesch has outlined in detail the process that went into creating the piece and it's a fascinating example of reflection, reflexivity and participant observation in action. He outlines a five step process which includes inquiry, formal research, and my favourite aspect of it all is the open ended questions he used to start the process such as:

What is it like being a student today? So the basic idea is to create a 3 minute video highlighting the most important characteristics of students today - how they learn, what they need to learn, their goals, hopes, dreams, what their lives will be like, and what kinds of changes they will experience in their lifetime. We already know some things from previous research (and if you know of any interesting statistics, please list them along with the source). Others we will need to find out by doing a class survey. Please add whatever you want to know or present.

The data were captured in a Google document which he has made available here and of course the final video is a masterful piece of work. The more I consult and the more I'm embedded in my own research the more I know that finding the right question to kick start a process is where the energy needs to go. Finding a creative way of engaging a client unlocks so much energy and very often that means flinging our own hypotheses about what's going on out the window.

questions, more questions

2008-01-23T08:07:21Z

I like questions. I like them more than answers. Very often when I’m pitching for a piece of work I’ll ask questions as well as offering solutions. Sometimes, the questions we ask say more about us than the answers we provide. Here are 10 questions I’ve used in organisational contexts. I’d love to hear some of yours. Or, I’d love to hear questions you wish you’d been asked.

If you could appoint anyone – alive or dead, fictional or real to the board of directors who would it be? And why?
If this organisation was a religious group – what would constitute a cardinal sin?
What’s the most exciting experience you have had in this company? What were the characteristics of it? How can we create more experiences like that?
What are we not allowed to talk about around here?
How would your favourite TV personality describe this organisation?
If you could pick one person to give you feedback on how you manage in this company – who would it be and why?
If this organisation were a film what would it be called? Which actor would play you?
What would it be like to work for a company that’s the exact opposite of the one you work in now?
Where do the real decisions get made around here?
If you could give yourself a new job title that reflects the actual job you do, what would it be?

The lost art of letter writing

2008-01-22T08:01:09Z

This lovely Ted Talk from Lakshmi Pratury is a love letter to the lost art of letter writing. She invites us to think about both/and - email and text messages as well as hand written personal notes both of which should be able to sit side by side. It's a timely thought for me. I've noticed that my handwriting is declining in clarity the older I get - while I can rectify my blurry vision with stronger lenses, the only way I can reclaim my penmanship is to take a pen in hand and practice more often. I tend to hand write envelopes even if the contents are business related and the only real notes I've written in the last year are either Birthday/Christmas cards or summaries of meetings I'm involved in that need to be decoded afterwards.. so a thought for the new year will be to create more opportunities for that personal touch. When so much of what I read is about creating better and more personal relationships it seems to me that a handwritten note might just be the most creative technology we have at our fingertips to make that happen.

Ryan Tubridy gets emotional

2008-01-21T08:40:09Z

Ryan Tubridy asked ‘is it ever right to show emotion in the workplace” on last Wednesday’s show. While I was glad to see this issue discussed on national radio I was really disheartened that the show didn’t appear to take the opportunity to challenge the most basic of myths about emotion i.e. women cry and men get angry; emotion has to be ‘controlled’; emotion is ‘personal’; emotional behaviour has to be taken out of the work environment. Hopes for a more sophisticated discussion that might have included reference to work as an emotional and emotion generating environment; the difference between feelings and emotions in the workplace; emotion as systemic intelligence about what is going on in the workplace and the fact that there’s no such thing as an emotion free environment (well maybe in the case of extreme bureaucracies) and the ‘rules’ about emotion were quickly dashed. The increasing body of research into this area wasn’t referenced even in passing. Yes, if only we could get those pesky emotional people out of the workplace then all would be well eh?

Bespoke poetry

2008-01-16T21:11:46Z

Matt Moore leads a hidden life..

A few times a month, I stand up and do performance poetry in various pubs & cafes around Sydney. Sometimes the punters love it. Sometimes you could hear a pin drop in the pained silence. Thems the breaks. I've been doing this for a year and I'd like to broaden my horizons.

and he is making a generous offer to his readers

Would you like a poem written for you? Yes. You.

Matt is offering to write an original poem for anyone who reads his blog...he has a some suggestions for getting you thinking about topics and contents and then comes the catch.

Well, here's where it gets interesting. I had thought of charging for this service but I'm not skint at the moment and I'm more interested in fostering creativity in others than tangling with the taxman. So you have to think of something to give me that you perceive as being of equal value to the poem. But what that is exactly is up to you. This is an exchange of gifts. A potlatch

So I think that's a wonderful idea and I'm signing up ... and now I'm wondering about how to brief an artist who has never met me to write an original work of art about a topic I can pluck from nowhere...not to mention what I might offer in return. How exciting!

Creative Leadership

2008-01-15T09:06:22Z

A Harvard Business School study looked at job satisfaction. Orchestra players came just below prison guards. Chamber musicians came in at number 1. What’s the difference? The presence of a conductor.

Boston Philharmonic Conductor Ben Zander, speaking at Leaders in London 2007

The leader, according to Zander, is the one who is masterful at creating and holding distinctions. Learning and leading is not about the transference of information, from conductor to orchestra or leader to employee. It is about the opening up of new categories to help people make sense of and thrive in a fast-changing world in which existing categories are not creative enough. "Framemakers create new frames. There is no problem that can’t be solved if you are willing to make a new frame, a new category."

From Phil Dourado via Johnnie. I wonder what Mike makes of this?