A Selection of my articles written for publication
Supervision for OD professionals
People who facilitate change or other processes in organisations which requires skill in making sense of dynamic patterns, need, like psychotherapists and coaches, regular supervision to review and reflect on their practice. This article introduces both supervisors and those who would be supervised, to the phenomenon of 'parallel process' and offers a perspective on supervision known as 'Shadow consulting'.
Supervision from this perspective can significantly enhance the effectiveness of OD consulting practice.....
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Starting When We Turn Up - Consulting from a Complex Responsive Process Perspective
The purpose of this article is to offer to fellow consultants a very practical and badly needed alternative view of organisations and of working with organisational change. Our claim ( I wrote this article with a colleague) is that organisations are human beings in an ongoing process of communicative interaction. In. other words, organisations are not things that can be worked on, but a participative process of interaction….Read PDF here
A Gestalt Approach to Organisational Consulting
This draws on a chapter I wrote for a book entitled ‘Developing Organisational Consultancy’, published in 1997, and edited by Jean Neumann, Kamil Kellner and Andrea Dawson-Shepherd. It lays out the basic tenets of Gestalt theory, and from that perspective, sets out a view of organisation consulting. In my late thirties I underwent an intensive period of Gestalt training in order to learn how to become a more effective ‘change agent’, having come to the conclusion that conventional approaches to ‘managing change’ simply did not work...Read PDF here
The Role of the Change Agent
This a fairly practical piece drawn from another chapter written for a book on ‘Management Consulting’ edited by Philip Sadler. I outline how the role of the ‘change agent’ is evolving, seeing it as neither easy nor comfortable, intellectually stimulating and emotionally challenging. I conclude with my current thinking, based on my recent experience of the nature of this role and my work and research in the complexity perspective...Read PDF here
Second Thoughts on Team Building
Although I say it myself, this turned out to be a seminal article on Team Building which I wrote with my colleague David Casey. I say seminal because it turns up on many reading lists and I still get frequent requests for it. It provides a model of executive team working which suggests that very different modes of working are required, and hence different development, depending on the role of the team...
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Making Sense of the notions of Strategy Systems and Complexity: how these concepts are used; how they relate to one another, and the Implications for Leaders and Managers
The concepts of strategy, systems and complexity influence, either implicitly or explicitly, much management thinking and practice. They are informed by theories and sets of assumptions which have similarities but important differences. Sometimes they are unhelpfully conflated and confused. How they are understood and applied have important implications for how we think about leadership and change, and how we make sense of our experience as leaders and facilitators of change...Read PDF here
Relational Coaching: Taking the Coaching High Road
This article elaborates on the practice of 'Relational Coaching'. It draws together a number of philosophical strands and psychological theories into an approach to coaching where the focus is on the process or relating, for the coach in his or her context and between the coach and client. It proposes that change and development takes place 'in the relationship', a view that is supported by current research, and this puts a premium on the coach's capability to be aware of and work with the emerging relational dynamics.
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The Myth of Managing Change
Critchley, B. (1996) The Myth of Managing Change, Leadership and Organization Development Journal, Vol. 17 No. 2...View details and Read PDF here
Lighting up Networks
Critchley, B. & Shaw, P. (1994) Lighting up Networks, Leadership and Organization Development Journ...
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Organisations Get Stuck Too
Critchley, B. & Casey, D. (1989) Organisations Get Stuck Too, Leadership and Organization Development Journal Vol.10(4)...View details and Read PDF here
Organisational Consulting: A Relational Perspective
Critchley, B., King, K. & Higgins, J. (2007) Organisational Consulting: A Relational Perspective, London, Middlesex University Press, ISBN: 978 1 904750 14 7...View details
Transformational Strategy: Myth or Reality?
Critchley, B. & O'Brien, D. (2004) Transformational Strategy: Myth or Reality?, Critical EYE REVIEW: The Journal of Europe's Centre for Business Leaders, www.criticaleye.net, Dec. 2003 - Feb. 2004...
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How the Coach can Innovate
Critchley, B. How the coach can innovate, Training Magazine (March 2003)...View details
Pause for Reflection
Critchley, B. & Sills, C. Pause for Reflection, Training Magazine, (March 2003)...View details
Consulting in Complexity
Critchley, B. (2007) Consulting in Complexity, British Academy of Management (Consultancy Special Interest Group), Manchester.View details
Field Research into the Practice of Relational Consulting
Critchley, B. & Higgins, J. (eds) (2006) Field Research into the Practice of Relational Consulting, Ashridge.
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Managing Organisational Change - Is It Just an Illusion
Critchley, B. (1993) Managing Organisational Change - Is It Just an Illusion, Leadership and Organization Development Journal, Vol.14 (1) View details
Can Organisations Really Learn?
Critchley, B. (1992) Can Organisations Really Learn?, Directions - The Ashridge Journal, December
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Sustainable Leadership
An article published in People Management by Tim Casserley and Bill Critchley
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