"I recommend IPK for events which are not business-as-usual, need to be innovative, bring out new knowledge and inspire people." Jens Dyring Christensen, Senior Enterprise Development Specialist, International Labour Organisation Pretoria
Bring structure to change situations
Change is the only constant in life, and it is also a process, which requires us to step outside of our usual comfort zones. Creating environments that are conducive to safe failure, reflection and learning becomes critical. In our processes we guide participants through their discomfort, encourage them to find common ground around their preferred future reality and get them to decide and agree on first actionable steps. Transformation is possible when we gain new perspectives and knowledge, which shift our beliefs and mindsets resulting in behavioural change and action.
Understand and navigate complexity
We help others to see their environment, situations and other people with new eyes as they gain a different, more holistic understanding. Dissecting a living system into its parts and analysing each of them in isolation from the others ignores the quintessential interdependencies, relationships and dynamics of life. Segmentation leads to fragmentation that hampers so many institutions. Once we perceive human systems as living systems with their own laws, it becomes obvious what is required. We respect, explore and contemplate life in all its complexities. And life responds in favourable ways.
Track record in this field
Create ownership through participation
People support what they create. If we want to do justice to the complex and dynamic nature of living systems we must include viewholders from different parts of the system, and also ensure high levels of participation. Genuine participation allows us to unlock individual and collective wisdom and generate ownership over implementable actions. The idea that too much participation hampers progress is a myth. Too often, it is insufficient participation that hinders efforts, due to insufficient system representation, deficient knowledge, and inadequate ownership levels.
Track record in this field
Harness the self-organising power of groups
The power of self-organisation is immense and one we like to leverage in our work. Giving people the opportunity to organise themselves around a particular interest or task allows us to work both more efficiently and effectively. It also means that participants gain a sense of ownership over the process which translates into higher levels of learning, participation and commitment. When we have the courage to hand over responsibility and agency, we enable the actors to tap into their own collective wisdom to find the right answers to the right questions.
Track record in this field
Elicit all voices in the system through conversations
Making time and space for meaningful conversations is at the very core of the processes we design and facilitate. Which viewholders from across the system, or within ourselves, do we need to bring into conversation with each other? Which are the most pertinent questions we need to explore? How can we create a safe space to hold the difficult conversations? Which voices do we need to elicit to nudge our current perceptions and move us out of our comfort zones? These are the considerations that allow us to move forward one conversation at a time.
Track record in this field
Bring interaction to (very) large groups
Facilitating large group events ranging from 40 up to 200+ participants does not mean that we have to sacrifice working in highly participatory, self-organised and conversation based ways. We are skilled and experienced in a wide variety of large group facilitation methods that still allow us to achieve transformative results. The assumption that working in larger groups decreases the depth and quality of reflection and insight is wrong. Instead it allows us to maximise stakeholder representation, foster higher levels of peer learning and more resilient outcomes as a result thereof.
Track record in this field
Engage diverse stakeholders in one platform
We believe in the principle of integration through differentiation. Through creating and sustaining safe spaces we encourage participants to explore their different perspectives on a particular matter. This assists them in seeing the bigger picture and finding common ground, which allows them to move forward. The diversity within the group becomes an asset rather than an obstacle. Working across different cultures, sectors, regions, functions or roles is one of our distinctive strengths. Integration of perspectives can only be achieved through allowing people to differentiate their viewpoints.
Traverse language divides
We are comfortable to work in a number of languages, and also experienced in multi-lingual set-ups that require collaboration with professional interpreters. This requires a range of technical, logistical and methodological adjustments though, especially when pursuing a participatory facilitation approach with larger groups. It is not only possible, but also critical to bring the relevant language groups represented in the system on board of the same process. If we don't overcome linguistic divides we risk fragmentation.
Deploy virtual platforms for conversations
The possibilities of hosting in the virtual realm are endless and allow us to work in more cost effective ways. We are skilled at incorporating the use of virtual platforms for a range of purposes in our processes. This allows us to serve clients all over the world that may themselves be spread across different locations. Individual coaching sessions, pre and post event surveys, stakeholder interviews, steering group meetings, virtual group sessions are just a few examples. We have refined the art of maintaining high participation and conversation levels when facilitating in the virtual realm.
Track record in this field
Amplify the assets of multiple cultures
We believe in the value diversity brings to any living system, and find ways to leverage it. Surfacing and welcoming diverse views, experiences and perspectives, makes for more resilient and ingenious systems and organisations. Whilst many shy away from diversity we embrace it as a source of positive and creative tension. We seek to amplify the assets of multiple cultures. We do this by welcoming and tapping into the uniqueness, peculiarities and complexities of different cultures. Cultural differences need not be a hindering force, they can be used to fuel collective ingenuity.
Track record in this field
Utilise the value of diversity
We make diversity visible, encouraging people to appreciate it and discover how to harness its precious potential. Our work is based on the understanding that – as we take on different roles and functions – diversity exists amongst and within every one of us. This opens a gateway to fuller, more inclusive and fruitful interaction and cooperation. If people gain access to their invisible, unconscious, concealed capacity, enormous resources become available. We design processes that reveal the resources and capacities within the system.
Track record in this field
Culture change and cultivation
Culture change emphasizes the influence of cultural capital on individual and community behavior. Whilst we cannot bring about grand sweeping immediate changes, we can renew cultures, gently shifting them in a more desirable direction as we replace old with new rituals. To be able to do so we need to first find common ground around our shared identity, our values and preferences. This allows us to identify what customs and behaviours will allow us to renew our change our culture. Team and organisational cultures can become toxic if we don't cultivate them carefully.
Track record in this field
Surface collective and individual knowledge
Collective and individual knowledge often remains latent due to inadequate or inexistent knowledge creation, learning and reflection mechanisms. Process design is instrumental in generating knowledge that is relevant, timely and results oriented. Knowledge creation is not an end in itself, but should always be geared towards a specific longer term impact. We design processes to bring together all relevant representatives of a system, using conversation based and highly participatory methods to generate knowledge that is transformative.
Craft tailored products & services for clients
Each client's context and needs are unique and change over time. An integral part of our approach is to gain a thorough understanding of the most relevant 'system and change dynamics' at stake. We assist our clients and their stakeholders in becoming clearer on what exactly their situation requires. This may not always be obvious, or what we assumed at first. Clarifying the exact purpose and the longer term desired impact of an intervention is critical. It is also what enables us to advise them on what options may serve them best, and tailor our services to their needs.
Integrate system & community engagement
Nothing exists in isolation and everything is exposed to changing conditions, forces and dynamics. If we want our interventions to have an impact we need to engage representatives of the "living system" concerned in the sense-making, conceptualisation and implementation of our endeavours. We also need to involve the communities that are affected so that we can draw on their collective wisdom. How can we move from mere consultative levels of system and community engagement to real co-creation?
Prototype ideas through trials & learning
Learning through trial and error, and testing ideas on a small scale at first, allows us to minimise risks and costly failures. The value of prototyping lies in developing, testing and refining ideas through peer and user feedback. The aim is to find local solutions to local problems through various iterations of testing, learning and adaptation. Failing earlier on, on a small scale, and in a safe environment, is more effective and efficient. Replacing fear of failure cultures with permission to fail in order to learn and improve, leads to better results.
Foster experiential learning
If we want to maximise the impact of interventions we need to pursue an experiential approach to learning. Partakers need to interact with new ideas, models and concepts and make sense of them in collaboration with others that are concerned. The myth of best practices that can be replicated elsewhere is not effective for most of the complicated, complex or even chaotic tasks we face. Finding good, emergent or novel practices requires sense making, analysis, probing and testing amongst peers.
Grow individuals, teams and systems capacity
Growth and development are critical to survival, health and optimal performance. We believe not only at an individual level, but as much at team, organisational and systems level. Though all of these require a different set of tools and methods, the values of participation and ownership remain a red thread. How can we facilitate individual and collective learning that leads to a change in behaviour, mindsets and culture? The concerned need to own the process and play a proactive role in self-discovery, reflection and goal setting.
Tools & Methods We Use
There are a myriad of different tools and methods, each claiming their own merits and benefits. Some incorporate our approach to transformation to a greater extent than others, and we master a wide selection of them. When it comes to applying any tools and methods, we feel very strongly about three things:
1) We have substantial experience with the methodological kit we use, which gives us the expertise and confidence to tailor the tools and methods to every single situation with its very specific particularities. In more than a decade, no two processes or events have been the same and we pride ourselves in continuously adding new tools to our kit or even developing our very own.
2) Some methods (and sometimes their originators) tend to claim to be a panacea for specific issues and tasks. We are very pragmatic – maybe at times a bit eclectic - but also very selective. We don't buy into any dogma or promise of salvation and have learned to mix, match and adapt. We carefully select what works best for a specific situation without devoting ourselves to any particular method or instrument.
3) What is much more important is to understand the concept and core idea behind any method we use - and to be clear on why, when and how we use it. Applying methods blindly without any notion of process design leads to mechanistic reeling off, making them shallow and often devoid of meaning and value. This is precisely when people feel they engage in activities that are the end in itself.
1) We have substantial experience with the methodological kit we use, which gives us the expertise and confidence to tailor the tools and methods to every single situation with its very specific particularities. In more than a decade, no two processes or events have been the same and we pride ourselves in continuously adding new tools to our kit or even developing our very own.
2) Some methods (and sometimes their originators) tend to claim to be a panacea for specific issues and tasks. We are very pragmatic – maybe at times a bit eclectic - but also very selective. We don't buy into any dogma or promise of salvation and have learned to mix, match and adapt. We carefully select what works best for a specific situation without devoting ourselves to any particular method or instrument.
3) What is much more important is to understand the concept and core idea behind any method we use - and to be clear on why, when and how we use it. Applying methods blindly without any notion of process design leads to mechanistic reeling off, making them shallow and often devoid of meaning and value. This is precisely when people feel they engage in activities that are the end in itself.
