Our Approach

Slow down to create space.

Be open to what emerges.

Move forward with clarity, intention, and courage.

Our experience as evaluators, program planners, and facilitators has shown us that five capacities are essential for collaboration, navigating uncertainty, and thriving in a rapidly changing environment: Openness, Curiosity, Imagination, Focus, and Reflection.

We use an appreciative and strengths-based approach to guide people and organizations toward trust, clarity, shared understanding, and pathways for moving forward. We bring the ingredients and tools for customized, creative, and dynamic experiences where all perspectives are invited and encouraged. We synthesize what emerges from these experiences to illuminate pathways for insights, decision making, and action.

OPENNESS

paying attention to our experience and allowing thoughts, feelings, and sensations to exist without judging or reacting in the moment

Why openness matters

Our perspectives and development can be limited by our assumptions and past experiences, creating habits of thinking and reacting. Cultivating openness can help us become more comfortable with uncertainty and prime our brains and nervous systems for out-of-the-box thinking/to be more expansive.

CURIOSITY

a desire to learn and explore from a place of not knowing or open-mindedness

Why curiosity matters

Life often presents us with situations and relationships that we may not have experienced before. Curiosity prompts us to ask questions that illuminate a situation in a new way. Cultivating curiosity encourages creativity, collaboration, insight, and innovative ideas.

IMAGINATION

the capacity to develop concepts, images, ideas, or stories of what could be

Why imagination matters

Experience is shaped by the stories we tell about a situation. Expanding our capacity to imagine alternatives and possibilities before taking action generates more options and confidence for moving forward.

FOCUS

directed attention and action

Why focus matters

Focus allows us to prioritize effective actions in the context of available opportunities and resources. This allows us to build momentum, avoid burnout, and move forward with purpose.

REFLECTION

looking at what our thoughts or actions have influenced, created, and contributed to

Why reflection matters

Reflection can pause habitual thought and action and help us determine what matters most in a particular moment. It gives us the opportunity to notice the ways in which the context may have shifted, including the ways in which our own thoughts and intentions might have changed. Then, we can intentionally choose to move ahead in the same direction or make shifts in order to realign with our purpose and vision.