Collective creativity
For me, the best moments in a workshop aren’t usually the ones I’ve planned – they are when when people build on each other’s thinking, and find new ways forward that weren’t available at the start.
That’s why I love designing and facilitating workshops – it’s to see creativity and collaboration come together for real world impact.
Clients include charities, communities, and purpose-led businesses including Community Climate Action, UEA, AstraZeneca, University of Suffolk, Adnams, EACH, and the NHS.
"Alex is a trusted thought partner who works magic on complex problems."
Collective creativity helps people...
Work better together
Communicate with more clarity, develop deeper trust, and make use of the all the intelligence in the room.
Think differently
Tackle stuck problems and broken systems with systems thinking, creativity, and embodied processes.
Build better futures
Dream, plan and get aligned on what matters to create the future you want for people, places and our planet.
"Alex has a unique way of getting the best out of people."
“His gentle but persistent and curious approach harnesses the power of thinking creatively to generate novel concepts and ideas.”
Andrew Kelso
Medical Director, NHS
Some clients I have worked with...
What do I do?
The work I do isn’t really about brainstorming or innovation. It’s about helping using creativity, imagination and story in work that matters – where being stuck, and staying stuck, is not an option.
I worked for 5 years with Dave Hall at The ideas Centre, running 100s of workshops and giving talks on critical and creative thinking. Since then I’ve learned how to help groups use design approaches to strategy, story, systems and services.
One of the most important things I do is listen.
I build long-lasting partnerships with people working in social and environmental change, and most of my work is not in the moment of facilitation – it’s in the virtual calls, listening, asking questions, finding crucial insights, and preparing for creative engagement.
A few projects...
- Sustainability team retreat AstraZeneca
- Strategy development East Anglias’ Childrens’ Hospices
- Environmental safety campaign Shell
- Large stakeholder dialogue University of Suffolk
- Story house – purpose, mission and values Essex Mind
- Fresh thinking workshops NHS
- Distributed workshops Community Climate Action
- Creative facilitation Theatre Royal Norwich
My approach
I’ve spent more than two decades exploring how people learn, create and collaborate together in ways that feel more alive – and get better results.
That journey has taken me through organisational consulting, leadership development, creative problem-solving, service design, improvisational theatre, storytelling, and academic writing about turning meetings into intelligent networks.
Rather than arriving with fixed ideas and methods, I come with questions about your context, challenges and opportunities. Once I understand what you need, I’ll help you design a a workshop, off site, or longer programme that invites people to slow down, get curious, draw on their creative abilities, so they can discover what’s possible together.
Sometimes these experiences are playful, sometimes they are reflective, or rigorous, or distributed, or based on embodied presence, or the wisdom of living systems where we invite nature into our conversations.
Whatever the approach, my aim is to create spaces where people can participate in work that matters for people, places and life on earth.
"Alex's style, consideration and emotional intelligence are hugely beneficial for strategy development and team building."
Some nice things people have said...
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It’s about collaborating creatively when the way forward isn’t obvious.
