Testimonials & Reviews
“Twenty-six years on from first working with you and your process still shapes how I go about my work.”
People know you now as a safety leader, but you got there as a plant manager. The environment you describe, where people are valued for what they know and look out for each other, wasn’t a safety programme. It was how you ran a plant, and the safety performance came out of it.
That’s the part our profession keeps getting backwards. Safety excellence isn’t produced by safety. It comes out of operations being led well, and you’re the clearest proof of it I know.
Mike Boyle
Risk Mentor Pty Ltd and Risk Mentor New Zealand
“I have used it (Process Enneagram) in companies and communities in Australia, South Africa, Namibia, New Zealand…”
I have used it (Process Enneagram) in companies and communities in Australia, South Africa, Namibia, New Zealand, Canada, USA, Mexico, Japan, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, China, Germany and Indonesia with groups as diverse as coal miners and steel makers through to lawyers, accountants and those charged with shaping the future of South Africa for the next 20 years. In every single case, I’ve been able to achieve results that would have been unheard of using other processes.
Tim Dalmau
The Dalmau Network Group, Australia
“I’ve been to workshops covering things like this before, but never have I seen it all come together like this.”
AK
The Synergy Group & Triple Track HR Partners
Williamsville, NY
“I would recommend this annually! I think it is important to take a break from the routine and rediscover yourself. Claire, you’re an outstanding workshop leader, whose warmth and caring nature made us open up very easily. Thank you.”
RL
Workshop participant in a Lights On!
Workshop for Personal & Professional Path-finding
“The work Claire did with our Zonta organization was important because it made us take a close look at some sad truths about our club operations. We made the changes required and are once more on track.”
PR
Zonta Club
Niagara Falls, NY
"I’m honored to work with Dick, for building Safety and Business Excellenece in companies world-wide, with groups as diverse as coal miners and steel makers to lawyers and accountants. In every single case, I’ve seen results achieved that would have been unheard of using other processes."
Tim Dalmau
Network Group, AU
“A unique blend of Knowles’ personal journey, and his intellectual growth combining his experiences of complexity in organizations“
This book is a unique blend of Knowles’ personal journey, and his intellectual growth combining his experiences of complexity in organizations with his deep understanding of the Process Enneagram© and the way it deepens our knowledge of organizations and how they work. It is an invitation to experiment with models and insights to address issues the reader is struggling with. The Leadership Dance is a robust approach to life and work.
Dr. Brenda Zimmerman
Associate Professor of Strategy and Organization,
Faculty of Management, McGill University co-author of Edgeware, Insights from complexity science for health care leaders
“Dick Knowles brings practical experience to his message, because he’s lived through it”
Many people have written about a new form of leadership that today’s business environment demands: more organic, less mechanistic, more personal. Unlike most authors, however, Dick Knowles brings practical experience to his message, because he’s lived through it. In The Leadership Dance, Knowles tells of his personal journey from the traditional to modern mode of leadership, and explains in grounded, lucid terms how others can apply it, too. This book is a compelling and engaging read, full of practical insights.
Roger Lewin and Birute Regine
Authors of Weaving Complexity and Business: Engaging the soul at work.
"It was a pleasure and a significant experience to have a person of your profile in our plant last week. You are like a “Deming of Leadership” and the impact of your workshops will be felt for a long time.
I believe we have achieved the objectives we have set for the workshops-to revisit the basics and develop a simple Process Enneagram for the warehouse.
A valuable lesson from the workshops was the difference between the espoused values and the values-in-use. Something we will focus on."
Corné van der Merwe
Weir Minerals Australia
"Each week our management group meets and uses the model (Process Enneagram) to co-create a context to help us deal with issues such as funding, difficult clients, interagency relationships, staff morale, etc. Using it (the model), we constantly reaffirm who we are and what we are trying to achieve."
Barrie Evans, Ph.D.
Madame Vanier Children’s Services
London, Ontario, Canada
“I thoroughly recommend these two inspiring people to anyone who is struggling to get what they want in an organisation and wants to do something different.“
Interestingly enough (actually not so when you understand the paradigm) other business metrics such as efficiency, quality and customer service improved at a similar rate. Ever since those days I have used this view of the world to improve other businesses that I have been responsible for with very good outcomes.
We have recently had Dick and Claire run a workshop within my organization again- the feedback from everyone, at all levels, about their teachings, about the benefits of their teachings and about Dick and Claire as people has been outstanding. One of my colleagues described Dick as a the “Deming of Leadership” This is a very appropriate metaphor for both Dick and Claire.
I thoroughly recommend these two inspiring people to anyone who is struggling to get what they want in an organisation and wants to do something different. I am happy to be contacted directly for a personal reference.
Paul Avey
Managing Director Australia
Three ways we can help you and your organization
Each grew out of decades spent inside real organizations solving real problem.
Pick the starting point that matches what you're facing.
The Process
Enneagram©
A proven nine-step framework for working through complex, high-stakes problems, used across manufacturing, healthcare, and civic organizations.
Self-Organizing Leadership©
Coaching and organizational design that helps leaders build teams capable of adapting on their own, instead of waiting on top-down direction.
Safety Leadership
ProcessTM
Workshops and culture-change work that helps plants and field operations move from compliance-driven safety to genuine safety leadership.