What We Believe In

These principles guide how we do business:

• Words must match action. We call this personal integrity. We believe in doing outstanding work and subscribe to the ethical standards in the consulting profession. Co-founder Lisa Koss has earned Certified Management Consultant (CMC®) status awarded by the Institute of Management Consultants USA as evidence of meeting the highest standards of consulting and adherence to the ethical canons of the profession. Less than 1% of all consultants have achieved this certification.
• We are partners in the work. We believe in collaboration in achieving our client’s goals. We do not consider ourselves “work for hire” as much as strategic partners whereby together with our clients we find solutions based on our respective experiences and strengths. In turn, we count on our clients to help us tell others about our work.
• We pride ourselves in being excellent listeners. Without listening, real partnership is impossible. Our goal is to leverage our clients’ life experience and business knowledge together with our own experience and knowledge to achieve the desired result.
• We believe in showing your ROI in us. Wherever possible, we tie our objectives to the bottom line. If a direct tie to your P&L is difficult to establish, we look for tangible, behavioral outcomes to gauge success. By focusing on the end-result instead of the activity needed to get there our clients see a direct correlation between investment and improvement.
• We believe in learning and research. Learning is the basis of all growth, continuous improvement and change. Research, knowledge, and perspective are important currency in our profession. It is what allows us to provide our clients with credible perspectives, innovative solutions grounded in sound theory and practice, and clarity on best practices. It is the engine of our own professional growth.
• We hold ourselves to the challenge of acting with courage. Serving our clients often requires saying what no one else is willing to say. Courage is a key ingredient for bold leadership and positive change.
• We believe robust communication is the “glue” in all successful projects. Paying attention to messages sent to and from different parts of the system is a priority for us based on the fact key people must be aligned before progress can be made. Our clients can expect to be fully informed about our process and progress at each step.
• As practitioners and scholars focused on culture, we see issues through the lens of human systems. We are mindful that what we propose or implement may impact another part of the system. We also know that when we enter a client system we are influencing it in subtle ways, which is why our inquiries are consistently appreciative.
• We believe the most effective and lasting solutions are always those our clients can adopt and carry forward without us. We are always looking to embed our work in the organization, whether it’s via coaching leaders, training trainers, creating or leveraging talent standards, processes and tools, and so forth. This is also why we are diligent in our follow-up and follow-through.
• We have been told that we inject positive energy into the organization. This stems from our inherent optimism, our belief in our clients’ interest and desire to improve, and our respect for our clients.