We all work because we care about something. All of us, given the proper resources and space, can thrive for our own and our organization's benefit.

Creating this environment is a commitment. Just as a person committed to physical fitness must not only care about their health, they must make daily choices to realize their vision. Similarly, it is not enough to plant seeds in well-cultivated soil; to enjoy a bountiful harvest takes regular tending and responsiveness to the flux of nature. In our organizations, the manifestation of a dynamic environment must extend beyond the carefully crafted words in a vision or mission statement, beyond well-produced quarterly meetings, beyond competitive benefits packages, and even beyond training. At the same time, each of these aspects of the organization must support productive engagement.

In our organizations, as with our bodies and gardens, there is not one static definition of health, nor is there one prescription to create it. Each organization has unique functional, market, customer and employee demands. There is a second reason that we don't believe in prescriptive approaches to organizational issues: Prescription is a metaphor from medicine, and reflects the idea that organizations (and their participants) are in some way ill, and need outside intervention to get better. Our experience and years of research has taught us that this metaphor leads to externally-driven, short-term solutions at best and, at worst, can actually do more harm than good.

We offer an alternative to short-term, outside-in, prescriptive approaches. We work with organizations who want to engage the best of their talent and passion from the inside-out and sustain a culture of participation.

The good news is that talent, passion, creativity, and the desire to make a difference are the very core of human nature. They do not need to be coerced; they do need the space and support to flourish.

Our Guiding Principles >