Philosophy

The Karrak Consulting approach is framed by a particular way of seeing the world – our institutions, our communities and our natural environment – and how we engage with it. Our ‘world view’, if you like.

The Context, Role and Impact of Leadership

 

"Globalization has brought a new level of interdependence… that never existed before, along with truly global problems that also have no precedent." Peter Senge, The Necessary Revolution

 

"I came to learn that everyone in the community had a role: even though some of the people were from different areas, they were all a part of that community and their main role was to look after us." Tex Skuthorpe, Nhunggabarra storyteller

 

 

"Our lives… both demand and deserve reflection. They demand reflection because we must know what is in our hearts, lest our leadership do more harm than good. They deserve reflection because it is often challenging to sustain the heart to lead." Parker J. Palmer

 

  • Leadership does not occur in a vacuum. Everything is connected to everything else – everything, every being and every leader is part of a complex, holistic system of life
  • We cannot not be in relationship with others and with the Earth; the only question is how sustainable – how generative and life-giving - those relationships are!
  • We focus on ‘leadership’, not ‘leaders’ as we believe that every human being has a leadership to offer, somewhere in our lives, and this is best exercised when we honour our ‘authentic voice’ and our own ‘Way of Being’.
  • Leadership involves influencing others for the sake of group purpose. As a simple fact of life, simply being alive is to influence others. We can’t not influence – the only question is whether our (leadership) influence is conscious, intentional and positive in its effect, rather than negative, neglectful or controlling.
  • We believe leadership involves responding to life in ways that have a positive or life-giving impact on others and our environment. Effective leadership can profoundly affect the lives of others and the sustainability of our planet. Quality leadership is, therefore, vital to help us achieve our potential, and to shape the future.
  • Being prepared to offer our leadership isn’t always easy – it takes courage as well as genuine care.
  • Today's organizational, social and environmental challenges demand that we realize our individual and collective leadership potential. We can’t afford to leave it to ‘them’ – diverse contributions are needed to meet the unfolding opportunities and challenges we face.
  • Leadership isn’t about the formal roles or positions we occupy (or don’t), it’s about our personal ability to influence others. While formal roles and structures may occasionally or even frequently obscure it from our view, social systems are ultimately communities that involve sets of relationships. (We are also part of a living non-human community.)
  • How effective our leadership is with other people relates directly to how effective we are with our conversations and in establishing and maintaining meaningful, satisfying and effective relationships.
  • Our leadership effectiveness also depends on our capacity to notice the impact of our actions and our ‘Way of Being’. In other words, our capacity for self-reflection and learning. If we’re unaware of our negative impact, we can't shift it. If we're unaware of our positive impact, we’re less likely to replicate it.
  • One vital role of leadership, and leadership development becomes the capacity to not just develop our own leadership, but that of others. The more leadership, the better.

Our Thoughts on Collective Transformation

We believe that effective learning and growth in any social system – any organisation or community – occurs at both an individual and a collective level AND it occurs at both an external, rational level and at an internal, psychological or cultural level.

This holistic or ‘integral’ perspective has been popularised by Ken Wilber's well-known integral theory which identifies four resulting quadrants, each with their own distinctive role as well as being a necessary part of the whole. (See our adapted version of Wilber's model below, represented as an iceberg.)

Individual and Collective Learning

BOTH INDIVIDUAL AND COLLECTIVE LEARNING

Individual Learning is vital!

"Individual learning does not guarantee organisational learning. But without it, no organisational learning occurs."
– Peter Senge, ‘The Fifth Discipline – The Art & Practice of the Learning Organisation’

Collective change rarely occurs without the individuals who belong to it also learning and growing. Other things being equal, the greater number of individuals who consciously learn to exercise their leadership potential, the greater the prospects and momentum there is for collective change.

Our work, including individual 360° feedback tools and one-on-on coaching, engages people by exploring the learning they most need and want to do, for their own sake, and for those they wish to lead.

AND/BUT… Collective Transformation is more than the sum of the parts!

"…we have already learned that the transformation of large numbers of individuals [alone] does not result in the transformation of communities."
– Peter Block, ‘Community – The Structure of Belonging’

Peter Block notes that it is naïve to believe "that if enough individuals awaken, and become intentional and compassionate beings, the shift in community [or organization] will follow." What is required is a structured approach to supporting the relationships amongst fellow individual learners and between them and their broader community.

Our programs are deliberately designed to deepen and extend relationships within and beyond the participant group, through the experience of ‘social learning’ as a vital element of community and organization.

BOTH EXTERNAL (‘OUTER WORK’) AND INTERNAL (‘INNER WORK’)

Changes to Behaviour and Practice are Evidence of Change.

"Behaviour is what a man does, not what he thinks, feels, or believes."
– Emily Dickinson

Success or performance is ultimately measured by whether our actions yield or exceed the results we seek. This demands a change in our individual behaviour and in our collective practices.

Our approach ensures we simultaneously link psychological and cultural learning with ‘action-learning’ through experimentation with new individual behaviour and new collective approaches.

AND/BUT… without a Shift of Mindsets, New Behaviour won't ‘stick’.

"We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are."
– Anaîs Nin

Individuals rarely sustain new behaviours unless it is accompanied by a new ‘Way of Being’ – a new way of seeing themselves and the world – and an organisation or community's practices only endure when it is aligned with shared identity and values (culture).

Our work, at both an individual and collective level invites people to reflect on how well their way of seeing themselves, others and our environment serves them. We invite individuals to have the courage to reflect deeply on long-held beliefs for new insights and breakthrough paradigms. We invite organisations and communities to reassess their culture. Most organisations seek results through improvements to their systems or by developing new strategies, without realizing that the biggest gains are to be made through investment in strengthening culture. ‘Culture…’ Peter Drucker is claimed to have said ‘…eats strategy for breakfast’. Strategy is important, but what is needed is an alignment between strategic plans and a sense of belonging, between goals and passions, between head and heart.

Lastly…

All this talk of change and transformation suggests we've got lots of ‘broken’ people and organisations. The truth is usually otherwise! What is often needed is to help people and organisations to get back in touch with the best of themselves and to realign with these positive memories, stories and images.

"Organizations do not need to be fixed. They need constant reaffirmation… to be appreciated. They grow through discovery of what gives life to the human system, expression of future possibilities and searching for the best in people… and the relevant world around them.

Human systems tend to evolve in the direction of positive images of the future. Positive images create positive futures. Focus on success we create more success."
– David Cooperrider

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