Tony Nicholls, Mayvin Principal Consultant, demonstrates how the way in which we see organisations and our field of practice as ‘things’ can constrain our thinking and effectiveness as practitioners. As part of our emerging thinking on where Organisation Development meets Organisation Design, I previously wrote about how “curiosity, reflection and systems thinking could be the spaces …
At Mayvin, we have been wrestling with the question of how Organisation Development meets Organisation Design in the real world of complex client systems. This blog adds to the conversation by bringing together two lines of inquiry articulated in previous posts. Claire Wightman offered an excellent summary of Organisation Development meets Organisation Design by describing how …
Mayvin Associate Consultant Peter Lawrence uses the lens of poetry and metaphor to reflect on an important, often forgotten, business reason to embark on an Organisation Design process: releasing potential. The Seed Shop by Muriel Stewart Here in a quiet and dusty room they lie, Faded as crumbled stone or shifting sand, Forlorn as …
A year ago, Claire Wightman started a new role in the Civil Service Expert Organisation Development and Design team. During this time she has been reflecting on what it means to be an Organisation Development and Organisation Design Practitioner. To what extent are the two fields integrated? Is there an ideal blend of skills? Here, …
Mayvin Associate Geoff Roberts describes his experience of working with the complexity of large scale Organisation Design projects. When I read Sarah Fraser’s blog on Organisation Design, ‘The map must be wrong’, I was reminded of one of my own experiences navigating the complex territory of large scale organisational change. An experience that reinforced one …
What can we do when our organisation design map no longer reflects the reality of the now, nor the intentions of the future? Mayvin Director Sarah Fraser explores how to navigate the shifting sands of the organisational landscape. I am facilitating a real time evaluation of a global operating model design process. In partnership with the client, we …
How including informal systems in an organisation design project is the key to long term success A few months ago I argued for consulting beyond the usual suspects when it comes to Organisation Design work. This time I’m encouraging broadening the scope of the design project to the ‘informal system’. When thinking about Organisation …
Mayvin associate Peter Lawrence on the fertile territory between a full blown restructure and organisational apathy “I am not sure what the problem is, but a restructure may help” That is the statement that often greets me during the first client conversation. For whatever reason, the need to restructure has emerged and now I …
How uncertainty is an opportunity for more flexible and honest Organisation Development and Design I started my year in an excellent way. I started it in a way that supports my counter rational sense that 2017 is going to be a good year. All around me, people seem to be filled with a sense …
Last week we welcomed colleagues, clients and friends to our latest Mayvin Community event: ‘Organisation Design – people matter!’ We inquired together about how to push the boundaries of Organisation Design to make it a truly people change experience. We all shared our thinking in response to the following questions: What are the main challenges you’re facing …
An Organisation Development consultant colleague of mine likes to tell the following story. Back when I had a ‘proper job’, I ended up redesigning a department following the arrival of a dynamic, new boss with a reputation for getting things done. She had spent a few weeks watching and asking questions and then declared that …
With the summer nearly over, we’re getting ready for our next Mayvin Community event: Organisation Design: people matter! Organisation Design is a complex people process. At Mayvin, we blend our deep experience of Organisation Development and change with the essential steps of effective Organisation Design. At the event, we’ll inquire together about how to push the boundaries of Organisation Design …
Two very different news stories have caught my eye recently. The first one concerns the very sad case of Nazanin Ratcliffe, a woman with dual Iranian / British nationality married to a British man. While visiting her family in Iran she was detained by the Iranian authorities, who do not recognise her British citizenship, and …