Clearing the fog

Have you ever felt that the way forward in your work is unclear?  Perhaps even shrouded in fog?

You might be a business manager, a department head, a project officer or someone leading a community group.

Perhaps the destination is clearly defined. The objective, the end goal, the finish line all make perfect sense. Yet the route to get there feels far less certain.

More often than not, we find ourselves invited to work alongside clients precisely when the path ahead is unclear. Sometimes the fog is so thick that the next few steps are impossible to see.

The challenge in front of you might involve raising awareness of an organisation's work, delivering a creative event, establishing a heritage centre, developing original resources, enabling sustainable business growth, merging two organisations, solving a complex problem, responding to a new challenge, changing behaviours, developing policy or strategy, increasing recycling rates, introducing an artificial intelligence plan, achieving a specialist accreditation, strengthening a supply chain, digitising data, creating an evaluation framework…

At Lafan, we are constantly immersed in environments where uncertainty exists. We are comfortable working in the fog alongside clients.  Fog is natural. In fact, it is often healthier to acknowledge it than to pretend it is not there.  Sometimes it can even be an exciting place to spend time for a while.

Gradually, we help to clear the fog by drawing upon our skills, experience and expertise. Just as importantly, we bring an external perspective, often having encountered similar situations, challenges and conditions before.

The route forward usually becomes clearer through a combination of facilitation, asking good questions, interpretation, research and consultation. More often than not, it is the client who ultimately defines the way forward, with us playing a supporting role along the journey.

At Lafan, we do not see ourselves as advisers in the traditional sense, and giving advice alone does not necessarily clear the fog.

Simply telling a client what to do is rarely as effective as working together to identify the right solution.  After all, the client understands their circumstances better than anyone else.  Our role is often that of a small, mobile lighthouse, helping to illuminate the landscape for a period while we explore the way forward together.

So, is there any fog clouding your path at the moment?

If there is, let's talk about it over a coffee.