We are SparkCatchers!

Posted by Steve Marshall. Follow me on Twitter.

What (who?) is a meus SparkCatcher?

We are completely committed to using a variety of action research and enquiry methodologies in our work at meus and so our SparkCatcher groups bring this type of learning to ongoing development for groups of experienced consultants, coaches, directors and managers from different sectors who are each involved in organisational change.

How do we do this?

Our work together brings some of the key principles of action research:

This is research 'with people' not 'on people'. 

• Those involved are there because the work means something to them
• The collaborative approach involves framing questions, designing experiences and making meaning together
• The work has the triple focus of being “for me, for us, for them”
• We carefully engage with multiple realities and the negotiation of issues of power is central

 We balance a clear framing with emergent design.

• Our plans will adapt and change responsively over time as new situations arise
• We facilitate continuous co-creation of methods and practices
• Questions and points of focus and emphasis can and do change!
• We support cycles of action and reflection, review and modification that are immediately taken back to the workplace

We illuminate 'informative' & 'transformative' shifts.

• This is not a case of researching, planning and 'implementation later' but of continuous, real-time results and transformation
• We explore an ‘extended epistemology’ where different ways of knowing (experiential, presentational, propositional and practical) are valid, valued and engaged with. 
• The whole person is brought in to play – mind, body, heart, gut, spirit, system…
• Creative approaches are taken to enquiring as well as to representing our learning (for example, not just written text but video, dramatisations, dances, photography…)

Our next SparkCatcher group will start work together in London during May with a second group following in September.  If you would like to develop new tools and skills, explore a range of innovative approaches to organisation or community systems, and benefit from the support of talented peers, contact Ian (ian.young@meus.co) on 0771 7683 320 for an informal discussion or to make a booking.