Alexandra Blackman
Approach
I work from what is actually happening.
I begin with where a person, team or organisation is at that moment. Not with a predetermined route or structure, but with what presents itself and with reality as it is experienced and becomes visible.
This means that I do not enter an organisation, team or conversation with a fixed model or predetermined approach. I listen, observe and explore what emerges and what is significant within it.
Seeing what is happening
I listen to what people say and to the meaning they give to what they experience. At the same time, I pay attention to what happens in the encounter and between people.
Where does space open up? Where does something get stuck? Where do perspectives diverge? Where does something shift in the interaction? And where does a response seem stronger or more persistent than the situation alone would explain?
What I observe therefore comes not only from what people tell me. What becomes visible during conversations and in the way people work together also provides information about what is going on.
I do not look only at the immediate situation. What people do and how they respond often makes sense in light of what they have experienced before, the position they occupy and the reality in which they do their work. The context of the team or organisation also plays a part.
By listening carefully, observing and connecting different experiences and perspectives, I can often quickly get to the heart of what is going on. Sometimes this becomes visible through conversations. At other times, it emerges from being present in an organisation and seeing what happens in practice and between people.
Untangling and making sense
When different experiences, events, responses and interests have become intertwined, it can become difficult to see clearly what is actually happening.
I help disentangle these different strands and look at them again in relation to one another. I try not to determine too quickly what something is. By carefully considering experiences, events and what becomes visible in the interaction alongside one another, the underlying connections can begin to emerge.
By listening, observing, asking questions and making connections visible, it becomes easier to understand how a situation has developed, why people respond as they do, and why certain dynamics keep recurring.
I do more than ask questions. I articulate what I see, offer my interpretation and explain how different experiences, responses and developments may be connected.
Not to establish a single truth about the situation, but to make more of what is actually happening visible and understandable.
From understanding to change
Understanding what is happening can change a great deal. But understanding alone is not always enough.
Real development becomes visible when what someone sees and understands also begins to influence how they relate to themselves, to others and to what the situation requires.
People may understand exactly how something came about and still find themselves doing the same thing again in practice. A team may have a clear understanding of what needs to change and still fall back into established ways of working together. An organisation may make decisions about change without that change truly becoming part of day-to-day practice.
That is why we also explore what this understanding means for how people act.
What does this situation require now? What is within someone’s own influence? What is needed in the collaboration? What choice, conversation or action might make something different possible?
Sometimes change begins because something is finally seen or understood. Sometimes it requires a different conversation, a decision, a different way of acting or taking responsibility. And sometimes longer-term involvement is needed for what has been understood to genuinely take shape in practice.
My role adapts to what is needed
Not every situation requires the same thing from me.
Sometimes what is needed most is space to explore and understand. At other times, a direct question, a mirror or my interpretation may help. And there are situations in which I am more direct, offer advice or state very clearly what I think is needed.
Where possible, I give people space. Where needed, I provide more direction.
My role can therefore change over the course of an assignment. What remains constant is that I continue to look carefully at what the situation, the people involved and the development as a whole require.
Working at different levels
When I am involved with an organisation over a longer period of time, I often work with different people and at different levels at the same time.
I may, for example, work with a leader while also working with a team or one of its members. I may also be involved as an adviser in broader organisational development while having individual conversations or working with specific working relationships.
These different roles can be valuable precisely because they give me a view of the organisation from different positions and help me continue to see developments in relation to one another.
At the same time, this requires care.
In each part of my work, my role, its purpose and the agreements around confidentiality are clear. What someone tells me personally is treated as confidential.
At the same time, what I observe and come to understand through my work contributes to my professional understanding of what is happening within the organisation.
When something is relevant to others or to the broader development, I explore with the person concerned how it can be brought into the conversation in an appropriate way.
In this way, individual safety and confidentiality can exist alongside working towards coherence and development across the wider organisation.
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