Based on the research of Julian Day (PhD), home of the Systemic Stairway™
Developing practical capability to manage and facilitate real impact and real change in complex situations
We exist to develop leaders and managers as skilled facilitators equipped with practical collaboration and systems methodologies and tools to create real change and impact in complex business and project situations.
Do extraordinary things with the people you work
Collaboration is too important to be treated merely as an interpersonal skill and self-development. Collaborations have designs, some more productive than others.
We have robust and practical collaboration theory and methodologies for deliberately designing, managing and facilitating intelligent strategic and operational project, performance and change management conversations you require to succeed.
Accelerate shared learning
Create manageability in complex situations
Secure agreement on key priorities
Collaborate intelligently to get things done
Collaboration methodologies and courses
Learn the theory, methodologies, practices and tools that underpin the Design, Management and Facilitation of deliberate collaboration in strategic and operational conversations. Boost the shared learning and agreement you require to create manageability and success in your organisational projects, performance and change management initiatives, no matter how complex.
Design
Theory & frameworks
Gain a deep understanding of the theory underlying collaboration and conversation design, and the Systemic Stairway™. Systemic Collaboration is a practical methodology that enables you to diagnose dysfunctional conversation networks, design productive conversations and facilitate intelligent collaboration.
Manage
Method & tools
The cornerstone methodology. The Systemic Stairway™ is a practical, reusable collaboration design that can be used by managers and leaders to boost collective intelligence and identify and agree on key priorities in team problem-solving and decision-making processes in a wide variety of strategic and operational situations. The Systemic Stairway™ has been taught to and is used by thousands.
Facilitate
Execute & implement
Deepen and enrich practical facilitation skills necessary for implementing and executing productive collaboration across a wide range of complex team, project and organisational challenges. This is an advanced facilitator course that can only be completed once you have done our Manage Collaboration course.
A new language and
What we do
Training, Projects and Programmes
1. Learn (training)
Learn one or both of our collaboration courses: Systemic Stairway™ and Systemic Collaboration. We offer a variety of training options, online course, virtual or in-person to suit your learning and training requirements.
2. Embed (projects)
Learning is never enough. Ensure ROI by embedding the collaboration methodologies and skills in your team through our action learning projects contextualised to management level and organisational needs.
3. Master
We now offer an advanced Systemic Stairway™ Facilitator course to help you take your professional development to the next level and master facilitation skills to implement collaboration in any complex situation.
Facilitation and Consulting Workshops
We design and facilitate the productive collaborative conversations you need to create manageability in the strategic and operational projects, performance and change initiatives essential to your success and growth. We accelerate shared learning and agreement you need to drive effective strategy, decision-making and execution. We help you boost organisational effectiveness.
Strategy
Project Management
Change Management
Performance Management
Management Consulting
Root Cause Analysis
Systems Implementation
Problem-solving and Sense-making
Coaching
Founder & creator
Julian Day started to experiment with new ways to address the IT implementation problem after having worked in the industry for 20 years as a software developer, systems analyst and project manager. Julian’s research culminated in a PhD entitled “The Design of Collaborative Projects”. Julian developed practical methodologies (the Systemic Stairway™ being a cornerstone) for enabling diverse people to collaborate intelligently in all types of complex situations. Julian has used his methodologies as a facilitator to help many top organisations manage their complex situations and implement their projects successfully. He teaches at prestigious business schools in Southern Africa and has trained thousands of people who find his methodologies practical and useful.
What else would you like to know?
Application
Audience
Benefits
Outcomes
Application
Organisations are collaborative enterprises that function via networks of conversation. The viability of your organisations depends on the effectiveness of these conversation networks, on your ability to collaborate. Use case applications:
- Problem-solving
- Decision-making
- Delivery and execution
- Goal setting & task prioritisation
- Team performance
- Cross business unit collaborations
- Strategic challenges
- Innovation and new strategy
- IT systems implementation
- Big organisational problems
- Disruptive events
- Change management
Audience
Teams & individuals
who are struggling to manage something important and are looking for ways to boost their performance or manage conflict.
Problem-solvers
who want to boost their creative and systemic thinking ability to identify key priorities.
Decision-makers
who need to create high leverage decisions and turn them into concrete, executable decisions and strategy.
Project managers
who want to learn “the art of getting things done” and implement change
SMEs & start-ups
who want to move beyond generic frameworks and benchmarks and need a structured approach for creating their own prioritised strategic roadmaps for success.
Facilitators & Consultants
who need a reliable approach for helping a group or team make a complex situation manageable.
Benefits
Drive inclusion
Enable diverse stakeholder inclusion and engagement to increase input, different perspectives and new ideas essential for learning and creativity.
Accelerate learning and boost intelligence
Radically accelerate shared learning and boost collective intelligence for more effective problem-solving and creative decision-making around systemic priorities.
Secure agreement
Reach agreement and alignment with all stakeholders on clear priorities and decisions to drive belief and commitment necessary to get things done without wasting time, energy and money.
Outcomes
Overcome project failure
Most project and systems implementation failure is a result of dysfunctional collaborations.
Increased organisational learning
The quicker you learn, the quicker you win.
Organisational effectiveness
Increased organisational learning and project and systems implementation success will drive organisational succes.
Tried, tested and trusted
I can fully endorse Dr Julian Day and the Systemic Stairway™. The method was enormously helpful in creating the great success we have had at Henley in Africa.
Jon Foster PedleyDean, Henley Business School 
We would like to thank Julian for the contribution he has have made to our critical thinking process and using your Systemic Stairway™ decision making is really powerful.
Yvonne WilliamsHead Employee Experience | People and Culture, Standard Bank Group 
Our success in the Region lay in obtaining the input of every single employee in the structure into the overall view of the business, and then of course processing this input through Dr Day’s tried and tested Systemic Stairway™ methodology. Using the principals of the methodology I was able to extinguish fires and settle the Region on a path to success.
Avi RamgoolamRegional General Manager, Old Mutual 
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