Our consulting services are process-driven (methodologically) rather than expert-driven (as per a physician-patient model). We help you refocus on the right issues to create impact and to make the most of the organization's wisdom in order to address complex challenges—so the systems work for the benefit of the organization, instead of against it. Engagements from 2002 to the present include:

Institute for Cognitive Prosthetics

For this project, we are helping the Institute to position its services and organizational activities in order to partner with large healthcare enterprises. The Institute has developed an innovative method of carrying out rehabilitation for brain-injured patients by using computer-based learning as a central part of therapy. This allows a healthcare provider to offer services without restriction to geography and with better patient outcomes. Using traditional Merger and Acquisition approaches bundled with systems thinking and design methodologies we are thinking and working backward from an agreed-upon ideal relationship in order to build the pathway for a partnership.

Russell Byers Charter School

For this project, Interactive Planning and other systems methodologies were applied to the challenges of mission, vision, and growth of the Russell Byers Charter School in Philadelphia. Interactive Planning is a method of strategic planning that eliminates the need for forecasting, and substitutes the use of assumptions and contingency planning in its place. Participants used design thinking and design strategies rather than only research as a way of handling systems of interacting problems. A redesign was used to dissolve rather than to solve their challenges.

International House of Philadelphia

One of our practitioners, now a doctoral student, briefly summarized the project activities: We "addressed the systemic problems of strategic planning at the International House of Philadelphia through the process of Situational Analysis. Specifically, the practitioners and scholars analyzed the systemic environment of the International House of Philadelphia through eleven activities in order to address its challenges then synthesized a compelling argument for organizational change." The project enabled the organization to establish a strategic plan, a pathway to reach their goals, and a new process for future strategic planning.

Accenture

This project prepared, facilitated and consolidated the results of three Business Process Management (BPM) design workshops held in Philadelphia, London, and via virtual technology, in the US, Europe, Asia and Australia. The input of the workshops were organizational and professional values identified via case studies that were proposed to influence the process of process management activities across a wide range of organizations. The results were confirmed and contributed to the textbook Value-Driven Business Process Management by Peter Franz and Dr. Mathias Kirchmer.

Foreign Policy Research Institute

Following our strategic planning work with FPRI, their President wrote: "Recently our Board of Directors conducted a strategic planning process that has enabled us to provide a stronger financial base, recruit young talent, expand our program offerings geographically, give new emphasis to our History Institute, upgrade our website, bolster our social media presence, and create new products and services from E-Books to blogs to webinars... We now offer regular programming in Philadelphia, the Main Line, Princeton, New York City, and Washington DC; we have an expanding menu of publications around the world; our fans on Facebook have grown from 2,500 fans in January 2013 to over 30,000 fans in November; and the Global Go To Think Tank Index has rated FPRI for two years in a row Number 1 in the US for think tanks with a budget under $5 million and Number 2 in the world for think tanks under $5 million—up from 19 last year."

Curtis Institute of Music

One of the members of our project group who is now executive director of a major city's symphony orchestra wrote: "This project studied the Curtis Institute of Music and how the school is challenging students to expand their thinking by involving a diverse group of stakeholders in the complete redesign of performance experience. A description of the project, called the Curtis Leadership Workshop, is presented." A Master's thesis, called A Design Thinking Approach To Leadership Development, resulted from this project.