The thinking and evidence
behind the work.
Why this approach makes sense: the Gestalt organisational foundation, the independent research behind the underlying practices, and what we can and cannot substantiate.
Gestalt organisational development.
An established tradition of organisational practice, not a clinical method or a fixed programme.
Awareness of what happens now
Notice what is actually taking place between people and in the work, rather than jumping straight to explanation or blame.
Individual perspectives in the whole context
Each person’s view matters, and it is looked at in relation to the whole organisation, not in isolation.
Dialogue that makes different interpretations visible
Bring differing assumptions into the open so the team can see where it agrees and where it does not.
Experiments to try another interaction
Test a different way of relating in the room, then notice what changes and decide what to keep.
In one team, a leader reads silence as agreement and moves on. Several colleagues expected to be invited before speaking, and said nothing. The workshop makes that pattern visible, and the team agrees an explicit invitation to disagree.
This is about working habits and expectations, not national stereotypes. We explore the team’s actual context rather than labelling cultures.
Awareness and embodiment
Awareness is noticing the actual assumptions, reactions and interaction taking place right now, rather than jumping straight to explanation or blame. Embodiment is the option to use physical positioning, movement and attention to bodily experience to explore how people experience roles, distance, pressure and connection, alongside the dialogue. A posture is not read as proof, and we do not diagnose people.
Both are placed in the context of the whole organisation and tested through practical experiments in the room, so individual experience informs shared understanding and agreed action rather than standing alone.
This describes our working approach. It is not an efficacy claim substantiated by the two reviews of underlying practices cited below, which examine teamwork training and team reflection rather than this workshop directly.
Gestalt organisational development is an established practice tradition. The Gestalt OSD community describes it as organisational practice, not as trial evidence for this workshop.
Independent reviews. What they show.
These reviews examine teamwork training and structured team reflection, the practices our work draws on. They do not test our specific workshop.
Teamwork training
A review of 51 controlled studies with 8,439 participants found positive effects of teamwork training. Active learning and workshops support how teams work together.
Read the review Lines et al.Structured team reflection
A review of 24 trials and experiments with 4,339 participants found positive average effects of structured team reflection, varying with measurement and context.
Read the reviewParticipant experiences from practice.
Anonymous participant feedback, paraphrased from the facilitator's recollection. These are recalled experiences, not a controlled evaluation or independently verified outcome measures.
After the workshop
Unexpected openness of dialogue
Participants described a greater openness in dialogue than they had expected going in.
Recognising industry conformity
A participant recognised conformity within their industry, despite a self image of innovation.
Listening to a colleague
A participant recognised that assuming they knew better had prevented them from listening to a colleague's knowledge.
Honest acceptance and declining
A participant recognised that saying yes to tasks could be dishonest towards both colleagues and themselves.
Active participation over instruction
Participants experienced taking an active part rather than being instructed through slides.
Present moment awareness
A participant described noticing their experience in the present moment as a different way to approach everyday work.
A wider effect, recalled immediately
A participant recalled feeling that the work had affected the whole organisation. This is a subjective recollection, not a measured organisational outcome.
At a later review
Shared language
Participants described still using the Castle as a shared language, including asking what it was like to be someone that day.
Renewed clarity of vision and mission
Participants described renewed clarity of vision and mission, with flexibility to change course.
Maintained energy
Participants described the energy from the workshop as maintained.
Differing perspectives as a strength
A participant described recognising differing perspectives within their own team as a strength rather than a problem.
The accounts are presented anonymously without attributing them to a particular company. They describe participant experiences rather than measured organisational effects.
Creative metaphors made complexity understandable. Ownership of priorities and decisions, and reflection, continued afterwards.
Anonymous participant from the IT sector. English paraphrase of written feedback.
Research and participant experience.
Three things sit alongside each other. Independent research on the underlying practices of teamwork training and structured reflection. Anonymised participant feedback from our own practice, recalled by the facilitator. And a prospective way to assess whether a workshop was useful for your team.
We do not claim proven results, published cases or guaranteed outcomes for a specific piece of work together. The participant accounts are recalled experiences, not controlled evaluation or independently verified outcome measures.
How we assess the work.
This is a proposed way to assess a workshop, not a record of historical achieved outcomes.
Agree the goal beforehand
With the sponsor, we agree a concrete goal for the work before the workshop begins.
Each participant records an observation and an action
Participants note one new observation about how the team works and one action they intend to take.
The team records priorities and owners
Two or three agreed priorities, with named owners and practical next steps.
An optional agreed review
If agreed, a later review looks at action completion and relevant measures such as handovers or decision time.
Follow up is not automatically included. It is agreed separately. Individual input shared in confidence is not disclosed to employers unless that arrangement is agreed in advance.
What does your team need
to move forward?
Let’s talk about the challenges you face and the goals you want to achieve.