Approach
forma is the Latin word for shape. Shape is the general character, nature, or the way an individual, team, or group is organized.
forma® is also a model for change and transformation. We must change the shape of whom we are, and change the shape of the systems we occupy, in order to create the new.
What is the “old” shape?
Old systems, archetypes and ways of relating tend to create an entanglement of individuals, groups, and organizations, held together in a “shape” based on legacy assumptions, beliefs and thinking that were created generations before any one of us ever arrived to this moment. These create processes, dynamics, and even ways of being that we are aware need to change, but often don’t know quite how to proceed.
What is the “new” shape?
Individuals, groups, organizations and systems can move through the forma® process to find new ways of being and relating with one another that are informed by our deepest humanity. What might be new ways of being in the world that will be in alignment with the values, beliefs and produce the best outcomes for everyone involved?
Foundation
Discover who you and your team are now, and where you have been.
Opportunity
Recognize motivations for the legacy culture, group or individual ways of being.
Renewal
Identify the new vision for the next chapter of yourself as a leader, as a collective.
Metamorphosis
Practices and adaptions to help the next chapter unfold.
Arrival
Take action to make this new vision a sustained reality.
This approach is innovative, as it does not seek to merely ask for incremental change. It requires the willingness to make visible taken-for-granted beliefs, legacy ideas and ways of working in order to inform a larger, brighter vision of what is possible. This approach is modern in that it integrates the best of change and transformation practices as we understand it today, but ensures sustainment and longevity for new ways of working with one another.
Why is this effective?
We are in a time of great complexity, and these moments are calling on leaders to be more: more adaptive, more capable, more competent, more intention, more resilient and even more outcomes. As leaders, we are met with a world that is ever-changing, ever-expanding in possibility.
This calls for a new commitment – not just the mere change in work processes or an implementation of a new tool, but instead, a new way of operating that holds true our highest values and acting on what matters the most to us. It means a new way of connecting and relating with one another. This calls for a new shape of leadership that requires your full embodiment and commitment to the future for yourself and those who count on you.
Case Studies
- forma® applied to organizational leadership context
- forma® applied to women in coaching context