re·sults: something that happens as a consequence; outcome.

Starting in the 1980′s as a business analyst and consultant, Ian Blei quickly developed a personal mission: to help people achieve their potential, which would in turn make their businesses more successful, which would in turn help them to achieve even more of their potential, and so on.  The simplicity of this approach allowed him to draw solutions from diverse and unconventional areas, as well as developing incredibly useful models and systems for people to use in achieving those Optimized Results.

Blending Process Systems Management and Re-Engineering, with the studies of Philosophy, Psychology, the Enneagram, Coaching, Cognitive Linguistics, Hermeneutics, Spiral Dynamics, Chaos Theory, and the Natural Sciences, Ian has developed problem-solving techniques, systems, and models that have resulted in phenomenal success for his clients, regardless of size or industry.

Rather than a one-size-fits-all “McCoaching” approach, Ian develops tailored, specific programs for each person or situation, rather like a personal trainer.  First identifying, then honing and maximizing their innate talents and skills, Ian helps his clients to become more than they had believed possible.  Holding you accountable to a set of goals that aren’t rooted in your deepest self will only result in a superficial and fleeting burst of activity.  Focusing on re-wiring your internal limitations and opening you up to your true core beliefs, gives you the power to hold yourself accountable, become self-correcting, and self-motivating.

Recently, Ian has worked with Senior Executive VPs of multinational corporations to build Values-Driven Cultures, artists who needed to develop viable business models, attorneys who needed to increase their productivity and power base within their firms, real estate professionals who needed to be able to create instant rapport and increase their close ratios, and many more diverse clients.  Regardless of what a client is trying to accomplish, bringing out their best will always enable them to reach those goals.

The secret to this unanimous success is using a truly Integral approach to the work.  Rather than the compartmentalized view that looks at symptoms in disconnected ways, using an Integral approach puts you at the center of your life, as a hub, with all your activities flowing outward like spokes.  Balance is more organic.  The fractured stress of splitting ourselves into the work world, the relationship world, the personal life world, the physical world, the spiritual world, etc. is healed when there is only one world with you involved in all of it as you want to be, free of external pressures or other people’s “shoulds” pushing you around.

Ian Blei is dedicated to his clients’ Optimized Results, straightforward, no nonsense Optimized Results.  When it comes to your success, there is no such thing as compromise.

Facilitating solutions in a Collective requires establishing a Process before addressing Content.  A framework for keeping the communication on track, on point, and out of the common traps that stall and derail is imperative to maximizing the results.  There are tried and true guidelines that will facilitate the efficaciousness of any meeting, and working together within these guidelines, any group can find win-win solutions that serve all concerned.

Some guidelines are developed specifically to the group or the individuals within that group, however there are several universal “best practices” that can start this process off on the right footing.  Here are five guidelines that I’ve used successfully with teams, Boards of Directors, and workgroups of all sizes for decades:

1.     Eliminate Blame from the Equation.  Pointing fingers and blaming takes any discussion off track, and away from seeking solutions.  No problem gets solved by “pinning it on someone.”  This just creates discord, shame, embarrassment, and defensive posturing; utterly non-useful.

2.     Seek the Win-Win Solution.  The impact of any action will always have consequences.  These consequences shift as we move out from an individual to a larger and larger group of people.  The best solutions affect the largest number of people in a positive manner.  The good of the many outweighs the good of the few or the one.

3.     Contribute Solutions, not just Problems.  We all know it’s easier to criticize than to create.  Criticism is not a particularly useful part of problem-solving.  Recognizing a flaw in a proposed solution is useful; merely shooting ideas down is usually not.

4.     Many Perspectives Make Up the Whole.  Allow for different perspectives to co-exist.  No singular perspective can be an Objective Truth, therefore arguing them as such is a destructive waste of time.  Creating solutions that many people can live with requires the input of many perspectives.

5.     Compromise is Not Surrender.  There are times when an individual or group of individuals “want” something that does not serve the greater good of the whole.  We need to put that greater good before our individual wants, and be willing to traverse the rock face, to find another path up.

I’ve found that when a meeting is run in this manner, sustainable solutions are established in very little time, with very little expense.  Unfortunately the contrary is also true, and without these guidelines in place, I’ve seen communication break down, hostilities enter and escalate, turf wars and extraneous political maneuvering take over, and both time and expenses skyrocket.  All easily avoided with fantastic results in their place.