The Benefits of working across boundaries

Our professional and personal lives have many boundaries. We need to respect those based on laws, ethics, personal rights, and work-life balance etc. That makes sense and is fair. We face other boundaries based on culture, work specialty, functional silos, national borders and many more. These boundaries constrain our thinking and limit our opportunities. This prevents us from solving problems, creating new products, reaching new markets and serving people better. Sometimes we need to cross those boundaries.

In our consulting practice we are currently working with people across the globe on different engagements. Those people speak many languages, have different faiths, and possess a wide range of technical skills. They have deep experience, provide many insights and contribute to the success of our clients in many ways. It is a privilege to work with them and in doing so we learn more every day. In New Zealand, despite experiencing a time of isolation with tightly constrained borders, we are working across borders every day. Our work in this country also requires us to work beyond natural barriers.

As President of IMC New Zealand, I am lucky to work with colleagues at management consulting institutes across the world. We have workshops, seminars and a recent annual general meeting where we share ideas, experiences and perspectives. IMCNZ works with IMC Australia to promote each other’s events and complement each other’s training courses. We are currently running a consulting skills course with our colleagues in South Africa. We also have a huge international network with gives us access to amazing speakers.

On 17 November we have an online conference bringing perspectives on crossing boundaries from experts around the world. Gabor Holch, a Hungarian in China, shares his wealth of experience on intercultural leadership. Benjamin Donovan from Queensland offers insights on assessing and managing change as we transition our organisations and societies. Mid Thomas-Savelio from Aotearoa/ New Zealand provides cultural empathy training to build inclusive communities and achieve commercial success which sounds like a great Win-Win. Jan Willem Kradolfer has been bridging gaps for years and brings us a Dutch view on bringing bureaucrats and politicians together to achieve civic goals. Amardeep Sandhu crosses functional and disciplinary boundaries in his work as a data scientist and will talk about how that helps solve intractable problems. Gabor and Jan Willem are both Certified Management Consultants (CMCs).

If you want to cross boundaries for good then join us on 17 November 2021: https://lnkd.in/gr_k3Bqk. I look forward to seeing you there.

Phil Guerin, Consultant/Director, Hague Consulting Ltd. © Hague Consulting Ltd 2022