2009/11 - Social Innovation

…and we made our best return so we gave 10% of it away to a range of good causes, good business makes good business sense, as one of our clients says! More important than the money is that we got to work with some wonderful people on some very meaningful projects.



	Ros and I have often quoted this to some of our clients , when they have become so “hard wired” into how they have been doing things, that they are unable to be willing or flexible enough to re invent how they work and what they do. If they need extra encouragement, we sometimes quote Einstein’s definition of insanity “doing the same things over and over again, and expecting a different result” We ourseves, have become a kind of victim of our own success over the last few years. When we claimed by the end of 2008, that we had had our “most successful year ever”, we had no idea that the next 3 years would have been even more successful, to such an extent that, we have been too engaged with what we have been doing at the expense of updating this website and tell people all about it.- It’s what an old boss of mine used to call “a high quality problem” This simple summary is our first steps to rectifying that!


	When we set out on our Social Innovation journey, over 9 years ago, we said we wanted to work with business, ngo’s and charities, through the introduction of “ innovative engagement” tools, aimed at working with teams of all sizes, as well as one to one coaching, through SI 2020 Vision Innovation Coaching. At the heart of want we want to do is to help create environments and communities populated with “Happy people doing meaningful jobs” We strongly believe that if people are happy in what they do, and find meaning in it, they also perform at a much higher level-FACT!! The past 3 years has seen us have great success when working at a personal level, with powerful tools that really help people to recognise and liberate their true potential , both in the work place and in their lives. The foundation for this has been the introduction of Mindfulness discipline and practices into the work we do. On a team, organsiatin and community level, we have facilitated many sessions using powerful techniques based on the creation of innovative environments in which Meaningful Conversations can create insightful solutions to Powerful Questions, leading to deep engagement and high quality performance. We continue to be astonished at the power and positive outcomes of tools such as World Café, and Appreciative Inquiry


	I thought long and hard how best to give our friends and colleagues a flavour of what we do and how we do it, and chose to do it through other’s voices. So below I have included a few statements from our customers and from people who have been on our workshops or enjoyed coaching partnerships with us. Of course the best way to find our more is to give us a ring and share a cup of tea!! “ensures we make serious step changes and get amazing results every time”-Mel Hitchcock Head of Innovation, Diageo “powerful engagement and innovation techniques-deliver compelling and meaningful consumer propositions” Petra Meyer Global VP Marketing Merck Consumer Healthcare “keep up your non-pushy way of dealing with me” Frank Neubauer Global VP HR Merck Consumer Health and “leading edge learning interventions that build Social Capital, liberate creativity and release the full potential of participants” Ground breaking culture and team development” Chris Zanetti Regional VP Merck Consumer Health” “highly skilled facilitator who delivers with a lightness of touch that makes it look so easy! We think she’s fab” Patrick Fusion Learning “I got 3 teams with a much greater sense of purpose and they had fun, too "David Cameron, Head of Communications, Environment Agency “it is the energy and wisdom that gives her the edge, she has a brilliant talent for asking great questions and helping clients discover the insights that open the path to effective action” Manny Armadi-CEO Cause and Effect “we continue our journey long after the workshops are finished, I think this is down to leading edge engagement and dialogue techniques, or perhaps simply down to the fact that SI take a real interest in tailoring specifically for the needs of each individual and unique group” Andrew Hammond Chief Executive, Royal Mail Philatelic “highly effective as a partner, coaching our leaders, developing our vision, and building Social capital across our network of suppliers” Sylvie Barr, Marketing Director Café Direct (now with RNIB)


	On final note I would like to share with you my own personal delight that the last 3 years has also been a time when my “work” world has converged closely with my personal values and practice. The combination of Mindfulness and Meaningful conversations, has been a foundation for the work I have been doing in local community*, and now has become a foundation for a wider community in the business, ngo and charity world And last word about that hard wiring I talked about at the beginning. One of the biggest scientific discoveries in the last 20 years, is that of NEUROPLASTICITY. We now know that our brain cells continue to grow and develop until late into our lives. Though techniques like mindfulness we can effectively rewire our brains for happiness, success, inner peace, and we are currently only using fraction of our human potential! » www.medicineforahappylife.co.uk With love and best wishes, Paul and Ros

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