Organizational
Constellations: A New Executive Decision Making
Tool Offered By
Organizational
Constellations (OC) is a new methodology that is having a profound
impact on executive decision making in a variety of corporate settings. The OC approach
is based on the phenomenological
work of Bert Hellinger with family systems and Rupert
Sheldrake’s Field Theory. Although OC is fairly well
known in
to be introduced in
The
applications for OC in an organization include:
·
Strategic Decision Making
·
Enhanced teamwork between individuals or
organizational functions
·
High profile Executive Selection
·
Coaching for Professional Development.
In
applying the OC methodology to enhance the outcome. For example, recently the
approach assisted the executive board of a global manufacturing firm in their
strategic
decision making. The board needed a tool for defining and testing the viability
of the
organizational strategy proposed by the new President. The OC process validated
the
viability of the new strategy and generated some helpful insights around ways
to manage
the resistance to change that might arise when it was implemented.
Closer to home, in
clarify priorities for the board of a nonprofit that was pondering the
implications of
adopting a new growth strategy or conducting business as usual. Ways were
identified
to enhance the alignment between the key components of the organization
including the
shareholders, donors, clients and management.
OC has also been used by hiring
committees looking for the best fit for a high profile
position. In a coaching context, the OC approach helped a professional
clarify her
options concerning a major career move.
The
foundation of OC methodology is that organizations are systemic in nature. The
parts
that
make up the whole are all part of system that has an inherent order and
balance. The
performance
or health of the system is enhanced when that inherent order and balance is
maintained
or restored. The system itself can be represented physically (by individuals or
symbols)
in a way that allows nonphysical information to become more visible.
This
approach of physically representing nonphysical information allows the client
(the person with the decision to make or issue to resolve) to access new
information and
insights. This in turn provides a new range of possibilities in making better
decisions that
move the client’s system towards greater harmony and balance or in more
practical terms,
greater productivity and profitability.
This
very brief overview of the theory and conceptual framework of OC is obviously
no
substitute for seeing the methodology in action. During an OC session
participants are
encouraged to bring an actual organizational challenge they would be willing to
share in a
group setting. Confidentiality, of course, is completely maintained. Representatives who
know nothing or very little about the actual issue are often used to set up the
client’s issue
since that mitigates the possibility of preconceptions influencing the
constellation.
The
OC facilitator works with the client and the selected representatives in a
respectful and
impartial manner, free of any intention to produce a particular outcome. The
client is the one
who assesses the utility of the constellation and any solutions or insights
that are uncovered.
Often, he or she is amazed the depth of insight and application that emerges
from a half hour
session.
Harrison
Snow, the OC facilitator and Director of Team Building Associates, is a senior
practitioner in the field of organizational development and training. He is the
author of three
books on team building and management. His facilitation work for international
corporations
and development agencies has taken him to 20 different countries over that past
22 years.
He is the founder and lead facilitator for the Organizational Constellations
Special Interest
Group sponsored by the Chesapeake Bay Organizational Development Network
(CBODN).
He resides and has his office in