This is the story of an OD consulting firm founded in the Middle East. The Middle East is one of the most difficult places to preach a new way for managing organizations and leading them to grow.
In 2003 a senior OD consultant decided to move from the United States to the Middle East driven by a vision to contribute to the development of the region.
Upon arrival he established an OD consulting firm that adopted both a unique consulting approach with organizations and a commitment to work only with organizations that share such a vision.
As he began building his consulting organization, and dealing with different clients he was surprised with the level of potential he found. In these client organizations he found individuals that were young-at-heart, smart, self-motivated, and shared a dream of building a better workplace and a stronger nation.
Why was this potential unleashed? Perhaps the easier question was identifying the obstacles.
The founder was triggered by his mission to develop the region to respond to the following areas:
- Immature Infrastructure: Due to the under-developed education and development arms within the region, most organizations lacked a strong management and leadership capacity that would inspire and motivate people to be committed to extra-ordinary performance.
- Consulting Approaches: Most of the consulting businesses within the region were designed to give the client “advice” or recommendations in the form of fancy reporting and presentations with little value add. Due to the lack of capacity within client organizations to implement and operationalize these recommendations, in most cases these reports were placed in office shelves of HR directors or CEO’s.
- Peoples’ Potential: Most people working in the region - especially young professionals who were exposed to global tools and education systems or were enrolled in private schooling - have great potential. They have the willingness to learn and flexibility to experiment with new ideas and concepts.
Revolutionary paradigm in organizational design
Extremely well designed recruitment
Love, Care and Closeness
Non-linear Development focus and belief
Diversity
Integrity/Self regulation
Client focus
The innovation in this consulting firm is its core culture, and the nature of its leadership. Though the culture was initially shaped by the founder of the consulting firm, it was refined and matured collaboratively by its people in a company workshop. The first and most important of the core values was “Love, Care and Closeness”. Though this sounds politically incorrect, it was how every person working in this organization felt towards their fellow employees. They loved them unconditionally; hence almost always made positive assumptions about them, cared enough for them to give his/her support at anytime and provided feedback when necessary. Further, employees are close to each other and are able to sense when each other is in need. On more than one occasion and with different members we have seen how individuals would call on each other before calling on their own family for support.
What made this really happen, I believe, was the very innovative selection process. We selected our people not based on qualifications or years of experience, but based on who they are and how they go about life. We asked questions related to:
- How do they do community service?
- How do they relate to their families?
- How do they make choices in life?
- What are their passions?
The final decision for each interviewee rested upon the team. Every short listed candidate met a sample of team members, who don’t interview him/her but rather sit with them in a social setting and talk to them about themselves, our organization, our challenges and how we deal with them. We then ask about how they feel about what they have heard and if they felt they could contribute to it and how.
Another important aspect is self regulation. We have very general guidelines that are directly cascaded from our values and the rest is up to the team member and the cultural leaders. People are very well oriented by who we are as an organization, what we stand for and what our core competency is as an organization. We also tell them who they can get information from, and assign them with a team and an OG or “Organizational Guide”. This is someone who knows the organization and has played several roles within it. Team members choose what sort of development they need, determine how to get it and identify when they will have time for it. They also decide on how they will work with their teams (in collaboration with the team). Basically the member decides his/her life within the organization.
The leaders are cultural not functional. This stems from the focus on the importance on the core culture of the organization. The founder promoted people who lived this culture and its five core values (Love, Care & Closeness – Development – Integrity – Client Focus – Diversity ) as the role models of the organization and the people to go to for mentoring and guidance. Another example of the organization focus on the culture rather than the functional/technical aspects is the lack of organizational structure. The organization is run by different teams performing “roles”, that may change every 6-12 months based on organizational needs. Roles do not signify a certain status or a given authority; they are merely a functional accountability.
The organizational baggage people come in with – though we had a very specific and aligned selection process, we still had to deal at some instances with people coming in with old system baggage. Some would at some point actually try to understand and be open to a new paradigm but others would take us for granted, and in some cases abuse the system. Those in most cases were pointed out by the strong cultural mechanisms; team feedback, coaching, mentorship and cultural leaders.
-The receptiveness of client organization – in most cases It was very hard for our clients to understand how we don’t have senior consultants and how we all interact as if we belong to the same fun house!
-Effectiveness of new model – because we don’t have a benchmark or a specific reference we are always in a state of development and in many cases we don’t have the answer and we have to work our way to organizational mechanisms that would address the challenges we are going through. A huge example was development.
- Because we are an open culture, very friendly and self regulated; we would sometimes slip into a more relaxed/social organization. However, again in most cases this would immediately be picked up by cultural leaders or other organizational mechanisms and managed.
One very strong well bonded team, with all the wealth of its dynamics (positive and negative)
People’s potential unleashed/fulfilled
members of the team played different roles with flexibility
Loyalty – very low turnover during financial crises
Business growth: 12 countries of operation, expansion to Africa – a whole new set business lines; all of which are lead by leader from within the organization.
A strong culture builds a strong organization and a strong aligned team
I joined SKOPOS almost a year ago. The majority, circa 20 years of my professional experience had been with several blue-chip organizations in the UK. One of the things that hit you on arrival at SKOPOS is the culture. There is nothing like it. One is truly allowed and supported to explore and develop themselves in ways that have no boundaries. The limit is wholly due to the individual's passion and threshold for learning and experiencing different things. In the span of one year, I have gone from leading the development of a major strategy work on the OD landscape and needs for Africa; joining the senior management team on a rotation basis; getting myself immersed in a unique performance management system; contributing to the design and implementation of breakthrough change management interventions at client's site; developing OD recommendations and proposals for new clients; getting immersed in various contemporary marketing methods; and now given the role as a Partner of a new business line under SKOPOS, Right Scope Consulting, to offer targeted and expanded services in the Middle East and Africa. I further know that is not the end nor limit of what I can and will be supported to accomplish with SKOPOS. It is entirely up to myself, and different means by which I can innovatively invent and contribute to the group. That is the beauty of the SKOPOS culture at work. Why did I find myself at SKOPOS? I have a key remaining passion from the rich professional experience that I have been able to amass from my work in the UK. This is to take this experience back (to Africa), to help in an area that I know needs fundamental nurturing and is a most critical pre-requisite toward sustaining the development of Africa – which is the need to develop our local managerial and leadership capacity, to stem the reliance on experts from the West to fill this gap. The mission and passion of SKOPOS to be a major instrument of development in our region is a noble one, a necessary one and a truly commendable one.
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I am also a member of this family of mission centric individuals. The true innovation of SKOPOS lies in its organization paradigm and in its unique culture that refuses to follow conventional business patterns. SKOPOS consultants continue to share the common objective of making the world a better place. We believe in our ability to change the client work environment so that they can sustain their success by engaging the hearts and souls of their human capital. We believe and advocate that business organizations can become agents of social benefit through their values, culture, and humanistic leadership. We have worked with many organizations and helped them transform from the traditional single minded pursuit of short-sighted objective like profitability at any cost, to a more sustainable tradition of holistic relationships, healthy dialogue, human potential and organizational commitment to social good. Like all innovative pioneers who chose less travelled paths; the journey is not easy and the pathway isn't always clear. SKOPOS family is not one that takes comfort in following in the footsteps of others. On the contrary , we can only be satisfied if we charter new territory where businesses success is not measured only in dollars but also in meaning and their ability to create stakeholder value. This is an innovation that reaches beyond the limits of the present and the boundaries of the future. SKOPOS is an innovation that knows no boundaries.
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Since we are sharing stories, i thought i would share one of mine too; This is a very personal story. It is one of the dearest stories to my heart and one which, from the start of my journey with SKOPOS, clearly conveyed the message of LOVE and CARE.
When I first joined SKOPOS I was originally based in Cairo, Egypt. However my assignment turned out to be in Kuwait. , a different country and 3hrs-flight away from home. I then had a 2-year old baby and a marriage to maintain. When I first knew about this, my thoughts were that I wouldn’t be able to see my husband except during holidays or on business trips to Cairo. But However, surprisingly and without me asking, SKOPOS informed me (as if it was normal, everyday business) that I will have a weekly return ticket to Cairo on the company’s expense to enable me to see my family every week. That offer was also extended to my husband to alternatively visit me in Kuwait, in lieu of me having to fly every week.
And that is exactly how we progressed, till my husband finally moved over to join me in Kuwait 6 months later. Though this may seem a trivial story to others, that bond with the family made possible through the offer by SKOPOS, made me feel so much better about my work, my family and my company.
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I joined Skopos about a year and a half ago. Everything starts all at once; suddenly you find yourself immersed in several different projects, working with a variety of people from various backgrounds. Everyone around you believes in you and respects everything you bring to the table. Everyone wants to see you develop and be the best that you can be. Relationships form incredibly fast. I thought I'd never get used to somebody calling me "brother" but now I feel weird when someone calls me by my own name.
The type of love that we have here isn't your normal, run of the mill type of love that's shown in movies and all that. No, the type of love we have in Skopos goes beyond emotional boundaries; extending deep into spiritual nurture of one another. See, a year and a half ago, I would've mocked myself for ever writing something like that!
I would be mistaken to refer to Skopos as a normal organization. It's much, much more than that. It's a family.
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You ask any SKOPOS member, and you'll hear a different story about the culture, the people, or the amount of love that everyone has for each other, as well as for the mission they have committed themselves to. My story follows a similar trend as the others'. I moved back to the region after growing up in Canada. Upon my return, I struggled with finding my place in a country, and culture that I just didn't seem to fit in. It seemed that all the talk about developing the region was just a fad that too many people talked about, and almost nobody put into action. To make a long story short, I was ready to return to Canada, my home.
That was over a year and a half ago; in SKOPOS I found a haven amongst all the chaos around me. I found an organization and its members who share the same values as I do. I recall during my first "interview", which was a three hour conversation about my personal life (a first for me), I kept thinking how the person I was talking to will think I'm just saying what he wants to hear from how closely my own values and SKOPOS' values were aligned. Joining SKOPOS was a lifeline that I took a hold of, and God willing will keep holding onto for the forseeable future.
The most telling story to me about just how great SKOPOS is came from a client I was having dinner with in Nigeria. It was my first time meeting this Chief Commercial Officer of a multi billion dollar organization and during our discussion we got to talking about organizations and our views on them. Five minutes into the conversation he stopped me and asked if he could send his own son for an internship at SKOPOS. When I inquired about the reason for his request, he told me that in all his professional years he has never seen an organization where all employees have the same belief system about humans and their potential.
To me this is SKOPOS, the haven I share with my brothers and sisters...
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I have been a part of the SKOPOS family for about 3 years, and have numerous stories that illustrate the centrality of culture in the organization. In one of the most recent instances, my wife called me in the middle of the day and was not feeling well. I wanted to inform the Managing Director that I would be going home just to make sure she was okay. When I entered the office he was in, I noticed he was in the middle of a meeting, and thus I apologized for the interruption and informed him of the situation. He asked how I would get home, and I said I would just grab a taxi. He immediately stopped the meeting, cancelled a series of upcoming meetings, and insisted to drive me home to check up on her. Reflecting on this experience, I thought that in any other organization, I may have trouble leaving in the middle of the workday, let alone canceling a managing director's schedule to drive me home. Again, this was just the most recent among countless experiences in SKOPOS that taught me the power of organizational humanity.
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Hello Marwa,
Great story. I heard many times about making positive assumptions of people. At last, someone is practising these principles in reality. Its really refreshing - Regards, Chary
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I recently became a member of the SKOPOS extended family when I got married this past summer.
After listening to my husband speak about the company that he worked for so often before we got married, I knew there was something special about it. Any organization that would take a risk in hiring someone who truly wanted to prove how he could contribute successfully to a company's goal, despite his lack of previous work experience in the Middle East, is a bit different from the norm. He is grateful for the opportunities he's been given the past few years and continues to learn each day. There is also something special in an organization that would let my husband leave for 6 weeks to fulfill a very important milestone in your life - getting married on the other side of the world - without having to worry about having a job or not upon your return. How many jobs allow you to start your marriage off on the right foot like this?
Aside from being allowed to spend time with my husband after marriage, I experienced the SKOPOS culture firsthand as soon as I stepped off the plane from New Jersey and stepped foot in Cairo - being greeted by a colleague and the founder of the company himself. I was immensely touched by the love and care shown to me on my first day. Two of his colleagues decorated and stocked our apartment with food to start our married life in Egypt. They even placed our wedding picture on the wall. What I realized from the warm reception was that the members of SKOPOS weren't just coworkers, they were a family, making sure they would take care of their own. I knew then why my husband spoke so highly of the people he worked with.
Over the past few months, I noticed that SKOPOS is not like any other company. As I try to understand how it functions with the culture it does, I make comparisons to education. Having been a teacher in the United States for 6 years, I have had the opportunity to work with students that have different learning styles. In order to engage students that are not all alike in a classroom, it is necessary to hone in on their specific learning style and make sure that it is attended to and that it is nurtured within the classroom as much as any other learning style.
One of the most successful strategies in the classroom is to provide an opportunity for inquiry based learning - a type of learning where the student is allowed to independently or within a group be able to think outside the box and problem solve in order to complete a task without being dictated by a higher authority in a step by step fashion on how to complete the task. The true learning manifests itself right here - as students pose questions to each other and talk out the problems they are facing in order to come up with a solution. A task is assigned, and very few parameters are given. If you trust a student to do his/her best to contribute to the team - perhaps that will allow that same student to reach a potential that may not be reached otherwise.
I believe in some ways SKOPOS is perhaps attempting the same sort of concept. I think those who work for SKOPOS are given a similar environment where they are able to nurture their particular working styles in order to effectively contribute to the team. Team building is essential within the organization - and problems and ideas are discussed openly. As long as tasks are completed and the effort is put forth, SKOPOS members are contributing to the overall success and potential of the organization.
It is obvious why so many of his colleagues at work, are also good friends outside of work. To members of SKOPOS, life and work come hand in hand. I am looking forward to spending more time with the SKOPOS family as it moves forward.
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Being in SKOPOS for the last few years, I just wanted to share a story that sort of illustrates one of the core culture paradigms we have. Four months after I joined SKOPOS, my wife gave birth to a twin boy and girl and we discovered that the baby boy suffered a congenital disease that if not treated properly and quickly could eventual lead to his death. Being hired as an OD consultant that is expected to travel four weeks a month, this new situation meant that I would need to remain at my home country for at least a period of two months to attend to the needs of the baby. I come from more than 10 years of work experience with top notch multinationals with all their ruthless corporate cultures that ultimately focus on shareholder value, and so despite going through the SKOPOS orientation (and all the discussion of love care and closeness) I was extremely worried of the company's reaction to my inevitable request to remain at home for two months after four months of joining them. To add to this I had just been assigned to the company's largest revenue generating project (where we were supporting the launch of a 10 billion dollar telecom operator). I remember the hard discussions I had with my wife (who comes from a similar professional background) regarding the possible arrangements and ways of putting forward the request. So when the call came two days after the diagnosis from a few of the SKOPOS leaders telling me "Ahmad stay at home we are not expecting you back until your son has recovered" I was stunned and the initial thought was that this was their nice way of saying goodbye. However when they assured me that nothing had changed, that my salary would come in untouched, that my place remained as it is , the tremendous care and support that I was to later find from every single one in the organization, I realized that I had finally found my dream organization. It was a human organization, with values aligned to my personal values, an organization that understood the core triggers to unbound loyalty, passion, energy and creativity. Living what you see posted in this entry is a memorable experience that I hope everyone can share.
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