Selfie taken a few miles above Tintern Abbey

Where’s the selfie I hear you ask!  But if Wordsworth had this technology to support his memory, would he still have honed that ‘inner eye’ enabling him to retain such vivid images of the Wye Valley? And could he have retrieved them with such effect to sustain and enliven him  between his first visit and his return? Nowadays, I might … Read More

Case examples – relational practice

These examples of consultancy practice illustrate some of the key elements of working from within a ‘relational terrain’ and how they help to effect change: Consulting to change An intervention to support the functioning of a complex new organizational structure, introduced the idea that all systems have aspects which are temporary and fragmented and capable of co-existing with other aspects … Read More

Theoretical background to relational practice

The term relational has prolific use and is frequently applied to describe practices which put people and relationships first. My own perspective on this derives from the concept of the Relational Turn, where it is used across a range of professional discourses: in sociology it emphasises the study of the social relationship itself, and from psychoanalysis an idea that this is an expanded theory of interaction. 

Mind-ful Consulting

Whittle, S. and Izod, K. (2009) Mind-ful Consulting, Karnac Books.  The publication of this book coincides with a increasing recognition that the challenges facing society and organisations are not amenable to “quick fixes”. The approaches to consultancy which underpin the cases presented here are particularly relevant in this new context. The contributors are graduates of AOC [The Tavistock Institute Masters Programme in … Read More

Resource-ful Consulting: Working with your Presence and Identity in Consulting to Change

Izod, K. and Whittle, S. (2014) Resource-ful Consulting: Working with your Presence and Identity in Consulting to Change, Karnac Books.  Consultants and practitioners working with change can feel at a loss as to how to help their clients move forward. Organisations get stuck in routine ways even when they have innovations in mind. Consultants get stuck in familiar interventions which no longer … Read More