Facilitation as the New Consulting

After three decades collaborating with all types of local, international and global governments, organisations and brands, I am convinced that consulting isn’t the way to go, whereas facilitating collective learning experiences on the other hand is far more productive. It takes into account time to grow as well as speed to market. It encourages joy, pride and excitement, but also empathy and inclusion, as well as the sense of vulnerability of humans due to this process, including expressions of anxiety and anger.

Growing talent from the core to culture is a spiritual journey. It takes time, as anything biological takes time to grow, be it a tree, a family or building a company. It needs facilitators of consistency, care, love and trust to create moments of connections, to inspire out of nowhere the most significant conversations, to reach and maintain a state of meaning. Most communities have the knowledge but lack the tools and processes of a facilitator with the systematic mindset of a designer and the heart of a teacher to serve and enable. When culture refers to shared values, attitudes, standards and beliefs, it springs out of our identity. It’s how we view the world, how we understand what we see, how we react to it and how we manage it. Thanks to lifelong education, most managers now understand the importance of a culture of learning as essential to the survival of any enterprise. Yet, its importance should be emphasised even more. Managers should be trained to be leaders with a holistic mindset geared towards defining and living a culture that makes implementation possible.

Facilitators know that culture is not what we say it is, but what we do, and why. With clarity, honesty, reality and reward, new stories, legends and love will be created. Our main focus is on relationships, interconnectedness, and a commitment to the fullest development of every single talent in the community, so they can solve challenges and implement solutions.