Post-Course Reflection 1

Organizational Culture and Consulting Skills: Post-Course Reflection

Hannah Elise Jones

Pepperdine University
Post-Course Reflection 2

Our groups consulting project took place at the United States Department of Health and

Human Services (HHS) in Washington D.C. We worked specifically with the Office of the

Inspector General (OIG) and our main clients were leaders in OIGs Office of Management and

Policy (OMP) who have been involved in spearheading an initiative to help measure successes at

HHS. Specifically, the problem statement for our groups work was to assess OIGs Priority

Outcomes initiative and identify their progress so far, what was working and what challenges

remained. Our work was intended to support the roll out of the Priority Outcomes initiative from

OMP, where it began at the end of 2015, to the rest of OIG. Because of this, we were asked directly

about change management, and where we felt they were in the change management process related

to this project and their upcoming rollout. Broadly the context of this project was also influenced by

the external political environment. In the initial letter outlining the problem statement, it was

mentioned that HHS is operating in an environment of constant change. HHS leaders know how

quickly things can change in a volatile political environment, and much of the work we were

brought in to support is intended to help them weather these storms by concretely being able to

prove their value and impact as an agency.

My evaluation of the work we complete for HHS is positive. I believe we delivered

something the client valued and did so within the time allotted, making the delivery itself a success.

The clients reaction in the room during our presentation was affirming and we were able to add

value through both the interview information and the frameworks we presented. Personally, I felt

this experience was also valuable and successful. While the work itself was not new to me, given

my current role as an external consultant, the process of doing the work with no guardrails and with

a diverse group, helped me to learn in ways that I have not had the opportunity to do before. I

appreciated the openness of the process, as it allowed for our group to come to many

essential decisions together based upon our shared experience and perspective. The conversations
Post-Course Reflection 3

we engaged in as a group to reach these decisions were helpful to me in learning more about

my own point of view. Broadening my consulting experience beyond the point of view of my

organization and the methodology we use, helped me to see new things about the process I am

currently engaged with in my professional role. For that reason alone, this consulting assignment

was very valuable for my own professional awareness and development.

One example of a valuable conversation and resulting decision was related to the specificity

of recommendations we provided to the client. There were some people on our team who viewed

specificity as valuable, and others who did not prioritize it as much, preferring broader themes

instead. Our conversation was underscored by the key concerns of validity and confidentially in the

context of our data. How specific could we get without identifying the interviewees in our

assessment? And were our broad themes really valid based on our sample and our means of

collection? Ultimately the significance of the debate was reinforced by the clients feedback that he

would have liked more specific recommendations at the conclusion of our presentation.

This dichotomy is one that I have faced before in other client projects, and highlights a

central tension I see in using assessments in organizational development. Inherent in the contract of

an assessment, explicit or not, is the promise of outcomes, recommendations, or prescriptions. In a

data-driven world, engaging in a formal assessment often puts the consultant in the expert role, and

supports the notion that they can deliver specific recommendations for change in the client system. I

have experienced this as a line consultants must be careful to tread. While formal assessments are

often required for the consultant to become informed on the nature of the client, they can often be

misconstrued as providing all the answers to a clients needs. Our clients behavior was indicative

of this as he asked for specific recommendations after only the most basic assessment.

My previous work experience helped prepare me for this project, but my awareness of how

this process differed from my work experience had the most impact on the skills, attitudes and
Post-Course Reflection 4

behaviors I brought to our group. In general, I was wary to bring my traditional consulting skills

into the group both because I wanted to be open to other points of view, and because I didnt want

to project any kind of expertise that could prevent others from speaking or stepping up. This put me

in a position where I was more reflective at the beginning of our project, listening to others and

considering their approaches without inserting much of my own opinion. On our third night as we

began preparing to analyze the data from our interviews the group asked me directly if I knew

any approaches to analyzing quantitive data and I stepped up to facilitate the group at that time.

This meant that I was bringing specific skills and expertise to the group much more directly than I

had been previously.

After stepping into this role and utilizing my consulting and analysis skills more specifically

I noticed that I felt more invested in the outcome of our work. By connecting myself deeply in the

beginning of the process I had developed a stronger point of view on how the entire analysis and

presentation could proceed and ultimately conclude. For that reason I found myself exhibiting

different behaviors on our third night of work than I had on our first two. I became more easily

frustrated and tense with my group members and lost the reflective presence I was able to hold in

the beginning. I believe this was due to both my investment in the work after facilitating the

theming, and my physical and mental fatigue. Through this, I struggled to hold on to my attitude of

learning and supporting the group. I shifted my focus from process to outcome and acted in ways

that satisfied my need to finish the work efficiently, rather than learn from our group process.

This was an example of a moment in our group work where I was highly aware of the

theories we entered the intensive with, particularly an understanding of process consultation. Group

process played a foundational role in our group dynamics and interactions. In different ways we

each put an outcome, whether it was an individual need or a specific group output, before the
Post-Course Reflection 5

process at some point in our work together. Many of the tensions we experienced as a group were

rooted in this balance between task and process.

As I reflect on all of this, I am aware of how much of this tension was driven by my own

individual needs and perceptions. For this reason it was invaluable to have an understanding of my

own inner committee through which to view this project and my interactions with the group and the

client. After this experience I have a new understanding of how an awareness of my inner

committee can continue to support my personal development throughout this program, and in all my

interactions with others. One particularly helpful developmental question that was posed in our

group was, what need are we satisfying with a particular behavior or action, and who on our

committee that need was serving. This question helped me to reflect in a way that contributed to a

new understanding of the concept of self as instrument. Prior to this week I logically understood the

concept of self as instrument, but it was not until I had to confront it in the context of my group

work that I felt it in my bones.

One significant moment of personal learning related to self as instrument, was around a

specific question I asked in the contracting meeting. I did not have a speaking role in our

contracting meeting, and had agreed to take notes for the group. Members of the team who were

leading a portion of the contracting meeting had specifically requested that the rest of the group not

intervene in the meeting so that they could learn from their own mistakes, were they to be made.

We agreed to this, and I went into the contracting meeting clear on my own role. While I had the

best intentions of holding my role, elements of the environment and my response to them, led me

to forget. During the meeting I asked a question that was very pressing for me at the time and

because of my own lack of awareness, this specific action caused a great deal of harm in our group.

I was seen as violating an agreement, and undercutting members of the team. When this

impact was shared with me it was hard to hear. It wasnt until I reflected through my
Post-Course Reflection 6

inner committee, using the question described above, that I felt some clarity around this event and

my emotions. The committee member who asked the question was my Good Student. My Good

Student bases worth on competence, and is driven less by achievement, but more by completion,

preparedness, and security. My Good Student could not tolerate the incomplete notes on my screen

in the contracting meeting, and saw my worth in that moment as my ability to gather information

and provide it back for the group. If I was missing the answer to a crucial question, I would not be

able to do that. And so I asked the question.

Walking out of our group debrief, and back into community that night, I was struck

physically, intuitively and emotionally, with the visceral knowing of self as instrument. I believe, in

a much stronger way than ever before, that group dynamics are made up of individual perceptions,

emotions, and narratives. The power of knowing each other as learning group members is that we

have the opportunity to develop a deeper awareness in ourselves, through our awareness of each

other. Because of what we have experienced, I cannot write anyones behavior off. I know it too

intimately. After this week I see that as a great gift, and a huge responsibility. I can no longer point

to general dynamics, to the environment, or to the behavior of someone else. I can only point to

myself. This is, in many ways, an empowering experience, as it gives me a new sense of control

over my experiences, and, as a result how, I show up to others in those experiences. This is

however, a young awareness, which I must cultivate intentionally with my continued personal work

in this program and beyond.