Organizational Constellations: A New Executive Decision Making
         Tool Offered By Team Building Associates

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 Europe it is just beginning
to be introduced in North America.

         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 Europe, when a decision is central to the future of the firm, executives are increasing
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 Washington DC, the OC process helped uncover new insights and
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).
 

Here is some examples of unsolicited feedback Harrison has received from participants at
recent Constellation workshops:

 

        “Thank you for such a good workshop.  I enjoyed the exercises we did and learned an entirely
          new technique  -- something you can not often say about an experience when you've been
          around for along time!  I really appreciate your so generously sharing your expertise with us. 
          It is amazing to me that people - who don't know each other, and with very little information
          - can use this process and actually discover what' s not working in a situation -  -  something
          that too often does not happen after eons of analysis!"  

 

        “Thanks so much for introducing us to Constellation work.  It was good to actually walk away
          with some insights.  It's impressive stuff and your facilitation was superb.”

 
        “Thanks for the really great gift with my work last night!!  The process really seemed to click
          for me and now I am enjoying a renewed sense of possibility and focus.”

 

        “Really got a lot out of the session, and look forward to learning more….”

 

         “You do very powerful work.”