ABOUT OPEN 2 FLOW

Open 2 Flow was launched in 2011, with a view to helping organisations to make wiser decisions, increase innovation, and improve work, communication and cash flow by engaging the hearts and minds of its members and clients. Our focus is on instilling a lean-flow integrated thinking to improve both productivity and sustainability.

Our approach to leadership is holistic and participatory - with a focus on tapping into a group's innate collaborative wisdom, to achieve innovation and wiser governance in the face of complexity, diversity and uncertainty.

Our mission is to help organisations and businesses move to a new model of economy; one where the purpose is not about profit. Yes, life cannot survive without blood and circulation, like-wise businesses cannot survive without profit and cash flow. But the purpose of life is not blood, nor should profit be the sole driver of businesses. We envision businesses serving a higher purpose, creating value for people & communities while still looking after our environment. This requires more collective responsibilty, but not through tighter regulations. Rather we need better, more diversified governance, one which involves all staff and a dynamic system which avoids group-think. We want to help organisations who aspire to a new way forward.

OUR VISION AND AIMS

VISION: We want to see:

• A world with organisations governed by all its members openly, inclusively and equivalently.
• Peaceful relations across borders through cross-cultural understanding.
• Collective wisdom enabling a leaner, smarter and more sustainable world.

MISSION: To achieve our vision our purpose is to

• train leaders in more open, lean and collaborative styles of governance,
• coach entrepreneurs in engaging the hearts and minds of their staff & clients, and
• facilitate organisations in making wiser more sustainable decisions.

AIMS: To achieve our mission we seek to delivering high quality services in:

• Facilitation (Sociocracy, intercultural simulations, Open Space)
• Workshops (online, groups interaction) & interactive learning materials
• Consultancy in lean workflow turnarounds & collaborative decision-making

VALUES:

We value peace and harmony, truth and honesty, equivalence of humans, dignity and integrity, and collaboration towards the common good. Our approach is holistic, our development perspective is interactive involving whole body learning.

FACILITATORS / CONSULTANTS / TRAINERS

Francois Knuchel, FRSA, Director, Head Consultant / Facilitator / Event Designer Francois is vastly experienced trainer and consultant, specialising in intercultural management training, new-paradigm leadership and lean business design. His experience of using circle management methods in the Japanese automotive industry has deeply influenced his passion for re-imagining the way that we work together, and he has a keen interest in the implementation of deeper forms of participatory democracy. A graduate of McGill in Montreal, Francois has held various managerial and consulting posts in America, Europe and Asia, in vast array of industries. He is an active member of SociocracyUK.

Our Interdisciplinary Approach

Our core competence is in assisting corporations with people issues in international trade and relations. Our focus is on communication, training, coaching, assessing and bridging tools with a holitic integrated perspective.

OUR PURPOSE

Our mission is to help organisations and businesses move to a new model of economy; one where the purpose is not about profit. Yes, life cannot survive without blood and circulation, like-wise businesses cannot survive without profit and cash flow. But the purpose of life is not blood, nor should profit be the sole driver of businesses. We envision businesses serving a higher purpose, creating value for people & communities while still looking after our environment. This requires more collective responsibilty, but not through tighter regulations. Rather we need better, more diversified governance, one which involves all staff and a dynamic system which avoids group-think. We want to help organisations who aspire to a new way forward.

OUR PARTNERS

Better Way of Working

Currently Open 2 Flow is administratively part of Transcultural Synergy Ltd and led by the founder Francois Knuchel. The plan is to develop Open 2 Flow as a sociocratic cooperative, and is open to new members joining and/or forming a new entity.

Transcultural Synergy Ltd was established in 2002 as an intercultural management consultancy and redefined in 2006 with a view of assisting leaders and teams bridge communication gaps across borders and between business units and teams and to develop through uncertainty and ambiguity.

We live in a world of yang, overheating, war and emotional spin - our society needs to cool down, be receptive, listen, and be more yin. A new kind of global 'leadership' is required, able to listen, collaborate and incorporate multi-perspectivity into meaningful purpose. Leadership which is also compassionate to fellow human beings. No one person can be a sole leader nor solve all the problems, saviourism is a myth. What we need is to tap into our own collective wisdom and the power of inspired innovation - we need servant-leaders who can facilitate this process, yet in a quiet and balanced way.

We at Transcultural Synergy don't have solutions, but we have acquired some wisdom and experience central to innovation, inspiration and organisational democracy. We also have tools and skills which will help small or large groups of diverse people solve complex problems. We work on opening space and listening to the collective heart, which will help us lead in the future. We are a network of diverse people and businesses who are seeking to make a difference in this world by enalbing us to tap into our collective wisdom. Our aim is a more participative (democratic) world; in business, in government and at work in general.