The August edition of The Orange Chair can be described as the ultimate crowd-pleaser, because included this month is something for everyone; we are featuring articles on the spatial, the emotional, and the strategic.

First off, I wanted to share with you a great quote from the highly regarded: The Power of Appreciative Inquiry: A Practical Guide to Positive Change, by Diana Whitney and Amanda Trosten-Bloom. For those who are not familiar with the theory of appreciative inquiry, it challenges us to focus on strengths rather than deficits when approaching organizational change.

"We live in a designed world, a world created by human thought, word, and deed. Language is the human design tool - dialogue the process...The purpose of organizational design is to give form to the expression of human creativity and values, and the enable the realization of human aspirations. Organizational designs are expressions of values embodied in structures, systems, strategies, relationships, roles, policies, procedures, products, and services. As a result, organizational design requires choice."

This month’s edition of the Orange Chair is excited to bring you an interview with Strategic Connections Consultant, Jennifer Davis. Jennifer is in the closing phase of a project on space redesign and can offer some firsthand insight into the cultural transformations that come with transitioning an organization from the Dilbert^TM style office to a more open space concept. Find out more in:

5 Questions for Jennifer Davis

Nicky Fried once again challenges readers to some self-reflection in her contribution this edition - an insightful piece about internal drivers. She looks into the human psyche highlighting the need to appeal to people’s emotions and how this can be applied to the business community. Find out about engaging people on a personal and emotional level in the article:

Caring enough to act

"What came first the chicken or the egg?" This question has endured without concrete response for a number of years. Within the business world another such question has been weighing on our minds: Where exactly should Internal Communications be housed within an organization? Senior Consultant Ken Milloy tackles the strategy side of this question in his article:

Just where does Internal Communications Belong in the Organizational Structure

Well that is all for the Orange Chair this month, if there was anything that especially peaked your interest, or you would like to share your insights into the chicken/egg debate please don’t hesitate to give us a call or write us with your comments.

Cheers!!

Dana
Editor, The Orange Chair