To SWOT a fly or to SOAR high?

Where are you in your strategic cycle?  How do you think? Is it about being better or becoming the best you can be?

I never really connected with the SWOT process.. drawing up yet another quadrant within which to plot our perceptions of what performance in and around our organisation looked like.  How we played it was a bit like a game of draughts (checkers).. black and white, moving words around a board, coming together to process and explain.  My feeling about this process was at best about understanding a means to combat competition, and at worst about fear of the future.  In a corner of my mind an image of a big fly SWOTter was growing.. the flip chart quadrant becoming a silly weapon to squish against aspirations of what could be, it wasn’t about being the best we could be either, it was just about being better.  TO really appreciate an organisations capability and core, to create truly generative dialogue on the best can be, there must be another way…

Appreicative Inquiry at its heart builds hope, it ignites aspiration and the desire to innovate.  It gives us the chance to see into the future and to use our dreams and conversation to design change.  I came across a resume of  SOAR in a brick of a book (and good) – The Change Handbook.  It cuts through the complexity of negative thinking, and even better, is action oriented… so you get things done.  I looked for more – and came across articles in The Appreciative Inquiry Practitioner, and a lovely e-book The Thin Book of SOAR

• S – trengths – excellence, what has brought us to this point?
• O – pportunties – what do we see in our environment that is driving opportunity?
• A – spirations – be the best we can be – our vision for the future
• R – esults – what will our future look like?

I’ve used it now very successfully.  Working with Heatherwood School we were able to use it as a lens through which all stakeholders could  explore their Hopes, their Visions for the Future of the school – it gave everyone a voice.  Beautifully simple, and incredibly effective.  I’ll post more about the outcomes soon…

Nature’s Whirlygig

I often stroll through the local park. In summer the Sycamore Trees offer their perfectly, wonderfully designed whirlygig fruits..

Every now and again I’ll pick up a seed on a wing, and toss it high into the air.  I love watching the perfect spin of the flight downwards – slightly pushed by the gentle breath of the wind.

The whirling flight of the Sycamore seed inspired me to lend its name to this new company. It encapsulates what I love about our environment, our natural curiosity and how nature has slowly and carefully created a wing of opportunity that seeks new growth.

Sycamore Learning is committed to making the most of opportunities for you: its about generating change consciously and positively.  Sometimes we need a time and place to think, a professional friend to listen, and a meeting of minds that leaves you excited and ready for creating something new.  This is what we love and do.

If your love is learning, leadership and creating a positive future keep in touch – and watch this space as the wing of opportunity spins your way.