What Brought You to The Clearing?

At the time I was looking for something different, a place where I felt true purpose, belonging, and personal growth in the work. I learned that John Miller and Chris McGoff were building just that – a unique approach to consulting. I had worked with John and Chris at their previous govcon firm. The new company was still focused on government contracting; however, the way they were building the company resonated with me.

Specifically, I was interested because The Clearing (TC) was founded as a platform for change agents, consultants and clients alike. Leaders could bring their organization’s biggest challenges and wildest dreams to TC. Clients’ passion plus TC’s expertise and bespoke solutions became the formula for making extraordinary contributions to causes that matter.

What Were The Clearing’s Early Days Like?

Our first workspace was a typical startup feel – high energy, fast pace, lots of laughter, fun, and are-we-going-to-survive anxiety. The office was a fourth-floor walkup in DC. We had a rule that you weren’t required to talk for the first two minutes after the climb. Phew!

Very quickly, we found government leaders with highly complex missions and fragmented stakeholder agendas who needed a navigator to help manage change and transformation efforts. These leaders were courageous, willing to take on the biggest challenges that agencies were facing and anticipating.

When I started at TC, I was the most junior change agent of the team – now I’m one of the most tenured. In my early days, I was the primary facilitator on the team of three; I was not only facilitating, but also taking notes, managing logistics, prepping for client meetings, and handling meeting after-actions. We lived the old “fly-the-plane-while-you-build-it” metaphor.

We quickly realized that our government clients needed our little group of change agents to disrupt the status quo and interrupt the pattern. They also needed a more reliable way to embed innovative solutions into existing operational systems. As we took on new customer challenges, we needed not just more people, but new and different competencies.

Over time, we added team members, each one bringing a critical element to our client solutions and team culture. We never looked for “culture fit” but for “culture additive.” Our team appreciates the unique strengths and capabilities that each member brings. We matured our internal systems to support our growing cohort of consultants, who represent the best of organizational design and development, workplace, resilience, risk & safety, data visualization, behavioral design, customer experience, and more.

Thankfully we’re now in an accessible workplace in DC, and we continue to foster an entrepreneurial spirit and proven method for success (and happy clients).

How Has Your Role at TC – and The Clearing itself – Evolved?

Over the last 12 years, I’ve gone from being more of an individual contributor and team lead, to being a senior leader at the firm. Today, I’m largely responsible for the firm’s ambiguous projects – the engagements where TC is co-developing the solution with the client in an agile manner. It’s exciting to me that the entrepreneurial spirit of TC is alive and well.

Although I now have an internal leadership role at the firm and all the responsibilities that entails, I still get to spend >50% of my time in direct delivery or opportunity scoping with clients and partners.

What’s Remained Consistent Over the Past Decade?

Our clients remain bold and courageous. We continue to partner with committed leaders across government and industry who are taking a stand for their mission. These are leaders who are willing to use their social and political capital to advance their outcomes. They understand that customer experience (CX) is not a function, but an entire way of being. Orienting to the customer’s needs and delivering with excellence is what we help all clients focus to achieve.

TC’s foundation has remained the same since my early days: we continue to design innovative ways to help leaders solve big problems. We continue to customize our proven solutions for diverse client needs.

Our values are still true. The language of the values may have changed over the years, but the notion of honoring the human, having fun, embracing ambiguity, and operating with integrity still line up with our founding values.

The Clearing Believes In “People First” Consulting – What Does That Mean to You?

Having a people-first approach is embedded in literally everything we do at TC.

The people-first approach is our client work. We won’t put forward a client solution that is absent from the ways that humans act and operate. Industry – and now the government – are embracing this philosophy of CX; for us it is the primary condition for successful change and transformation. The Clearing prides itself on creating change that sticks. To do that our teams and our solutions have to be relatable to the humans involved. Through assessments and engagements we get to know what inspires them to act and what incentivizes them to sustain long-term.

From an employee perspective, people-first means we don’t expect people to be machines. Humans are humans, and the workforce’s shifting to a Millennial majority is illustrating this in real-time. Our rising Gen Z consultants find ways to meet traditional govcon requirements while having flexibility in their lives. The marketplace is realizing that employees desire a fulfilling life AND a fulfilling career.

It sounds simplistic, but we believe people are the means AND the end. To be a Clearing consultant requires a certain mindset and a willingness to take chances. We don’t have a script we give folks on their first day. We invite honesty, creativity, and fun into the work so our employees can put forward their best thinking. Most importantly, these conversations don’t just happen in pockets, it’s universal across the firm. That human experience is what makes clients return again and again to partner with The Clearing.

https://youtu.be/PRrTxVoO6Vk

Hear what attracted some of our team members to The Clearing in their own words.

What’s Your Hope for The Clearing a Decade From Now?

In 10 years, I believe the people-first approach will remain TC’s central focus. As long as the federal government has civil servants and as long as businesses have employees that serve customers, we’ll be here.

My hope is that we have more of our products and services available to those who can’t pay for them. When The PRIMES (our foundational underpinning) were created they were open-sourced. More recently, my colleague Hans Manzke published about giving equal access to what the world’s best minds have to offer, regardless of our background, age, education, or profession. He writes about the democratization of big ideas in his book, For All. I’d like The Clearing to continue that spirit of generosity.

Second, I want TC to continue to focus on the employee experience and drive our own people-first culture. It is extremely challenging to be a consultant – from entry-level analysts to the most seasoned executives – given the complex client challenges we tackle. Our teams are on the edge of innovation in all sectors. The complexity of the subject matter and stakeholder environments are demanding on each of us in different ways. I hope The Clearing continues to invest in resources that not only allow our teams to bring their best thinking but also ensure they feel supported as they take a stand for outcomes that matter.

In part one of this post, we discussed what true organizational diversity looks like. Now, we’ll turn to why this can be so challenging to create, and ways to overcome those challenges to create a culture that fosters diversity of thought.

The Challenge of Creating Diverse Teams and Workplaces

As previously mentioned, Google spent millions studying its employees and evaluating 180 teams in an effort to pinpoint the traits of the perfect team. Despite their best efforts, the answer was elusive. Researchers were unable to identify patterns or characteristics that were shared among the most successful teams.

Google then began examining the culture of each team, rather than the individual composition. Once again, they found that the hundreds of teams studied had cultures as diverse as their participants. Some were loud and boisterous and allowed team members to speak over one another in meetings, while others were quiet, conversational turn-takers. Some teams spent time together in and out of the office, while others came together only at work. However, researchers were eventually able to determine that whatever the culture, the most successful teams were inclusive. They welcomed contributions from all members and gave each individual an equal opportunity to share.

There is no perfect formula to build a dream team. We cannot take a splash from Skillset A, a pinch from Experience B, and dashes of youth and experience to create a winning combination. But crafting a culture that respects and fosters diversity of thought is the best possible way to build successful teams in the workplace.

Tips to Create a Culture that Fosters Diversity of Thought

We know that picking and choosing a diverse array of individuals isn’t enough to build the peak performance culture organizations seek, so what can be done to foster diversity of thought at the team and organizational level?

A conscious hiring strategy is the first step. Managers and human resources professionals should take care to develop and maintain diversity of thought by hiring a mix of “people-people” and “data-people.” These two groups bring valuable emotional intelligence and analytical capabilities to any organization, but it’s important to strike a balance and continue to maintain it as individuals enter and leave the organization.

Beyond hiring, a diverse culture requires continuous intention. To build and maintain diversity of thought, organizations must make a conscious effort to move away from what’s comfortable, make room for disagreement, and facilitate exploration. For example:

Leaders should be encouraged to network in non-traditional spaces and should view outsiders as an asset. Networking with others in a similar position can be valuable, but networking outside of one’s comfort zone can benefit everyone. Some organizations promote this kind of interaction with mentorships, while other leadership coaches recommend going outside the organization to work with others in related but different fields. What might you learn if you talked to someone totally different from you? For example, one hospital was trying to create the ideal emergency room. Instead of talking to doctors, nurses, and others in the field, they sought out the advice of a NASCAR pit crew. With similar requirements (safety, accuracy, and efficiency) but different points of view, the hospital was able to implement strategies that would never have occurred had they kept the discussion internal.
Intentional meeting facilitation can also foster diversity of thought. Consider design thinking techniques like a pre-mortem. Or, when everyone in a meeting agrees on a course of action, stop and ask team members to poke holes in the plan. Playing “devil’s advocate” gets a bad rap, but it is an effective way to tease out fresh thoughts and get people to think outside of the usual conversation. “What aren’t we saying that we should?”
Consider asking when you don’t know. While living abroad for a few years, I made my share of social missteps. In the spirit of learning, I would always seek out someone among the ex-pats and others who could tell me about local customs and culture. They let me know what different nationalities might find funny, offensive, edible, or ethical. These are the important conversations which can enrich not only our experience, but our ability to make an impact.

At The Clearing, we use the PERIMETER Prime to facilitate productive meetings with diverse ideas. We start by acknowledging a simple fact: the usual conversation creates the usual results. When a group enters a meeting, they are bound by a shared fence separating what they accept and reject in conversation. By expanding the fence into an available space and then beyond into an extraordinary space, the group clears the way for “red dot moments.” These are moments of insight that would never have been available without someone sharing an honest perspective beyond the group’s typical conversation.

Ultimately, diversity of thought can take many shapes. It can happen in boisterous groups and in quiet ones. It can happen in organizations staffed by engineers and organizations staffed by artists. The key to a successful, diverse organizational culture is that it must be fostered with intent. Take time today to nurture and maintain a careful balance in which all perspectives in your organization are given a voice.

Do you need a fresh perspective? Talk to The Clearing today about your organizational culture.

Today’s leading businesses are in pursuit of the ideal culture. Organizations like Google have spent millions of dollars trying to identify the characteristics of a “dream team,” and Gallup offers Strengths Finder services to shift the focus from managing people to developing them.

Strong companies recognize that culture – the imaginary yet real line between the behaviors a group will tolerate and those it rejects – impacts everything from employee retention to the bottom line. As culture emerges as a strategic business topic, efforts around diversity and inclusion are also becoming priorities. But how do these efforts contribute to build a strong organizational culture? And what can you do to achieve a culture of inclusion that values diversity?

Why Does Diversity Matter?

If an organization fails to foster diversity and inclusivity, its culture becomes something restricted and ineffective. Just like monocultures in nature, same-thinking people can limit what is possible, and lead to decline. When companies create teams of all like-minded people with similar backgrounds and experiences, there are few opportunities to hear, honor, and learn from different perspectives.

A recent Harvard Business Review study on venture capital firms sheds insight into the value of diversity. The study reveals that diversity has a significant positive impact on financial performance, including measures such as “profitable investments at the portfolio-company level and overall fund returns.”

In addition, O.C. Tanner’s Global Culture Report, which studied data from 14,000 respondents across 12 countries, revealed that diversity in the workplace allows organizations to better understand customer needs, support their employees, and address social issues. Employees who felt that their employers fostered an inclusive culture reported feeling 3.2 times more likely to perform their best as compared to their counterparts in less-inclusive situations.

Unfortunately, that same study revealed a startling lack of actual diversity in workplace culture. Only 36% of the business professionals who responded felt that their organizations were actively engaged in fostering a diverse culture. This disconnect is significant, and it’s damaging to organizations that want to create peak performance cultures.

What Does True Diversity Look Like in an Organizational Setting?

We often think of diversity as being reflected in demographics like age, race, and gender. While these are important elements of diversity, for the purpose of creating a successful organizational culture, diversity involves many more factors. Examples include:

Skill Sets: Is your workforce made up of people with a variety of skills?

Interpersonal
Artistic
Verbal
Analytical

Design-Thinking Capabilities: Does your workforce represent a variety of perspectives?

Front-end users
Back-end users
New users
Experienced users

Experience: Is your team composed of individuals with a broad array of experience levels, spanning everything from recent graduates to near-retirees?

When creating an organizational culture of diversity, demographics are important—but diversity of thought is the real objective.

In part two of this series, we will discuss why achieving this objective can be challenging, and how to create and sustain a culture that fosters diversity of thought. In the meantime, reach out to me to continue the conversation around diversity and inclusion.