A Discursive Approach to Organizational and Strategy Consulting

People who strive to set things in motion within corporations and organizations, be it as managers or consultants, encounter stubborn resistance. Even though new strategies have been adopted, the desired changes do not materialize. A reorganization that was intended to finally produce clarity, creates only a new round of confusion. Wolfgang Schnelle, co-founder of the consulting firm Metaplan, learned from four decades of experience in the field that it pays to think of organizations and strategy within the context of opinions, interests, and power and trust relationships. His approach draws on organizational sociology and helps to shed light on the diverse realities of the players involved. If anything is to be accomplished, these realities must be moved toward convergence. Organizational and strategy consultants using a discursive approach think of themselves as leaders of processes that create shared understanding. This approach allows them to spot resistance early and overcome it through argumentation and discourse. New and often surprising opportunities for action emerge. The new concepts can then be implemented faster, because thought processes have taken place in the minds of those who will subsequently perform the actions.