Comments from Clients

Paul Avey, CSR, Inc., Sydney, Australia:
"MY EXPERIENCE WITH DICK KNOWLES

I have always been interested in how organizations and people work. Even with all of the study and personal development that I have completed and the experience that I have had I still felt that there was something missing- I wasn’t happy with the personal or professional results that I achieved or how I went about achieving these results. I was typical of many leaders in business- most of the time acting in Command and Control mode. I always thought that there must be a better way but I didn’t know where to look or what to do.

In early 2000 I was appointed to the position of Queensland operations manager for CSR Ltd in Australia. CSR was one of the largest and oldest manufacturing companies in this part of the world.

Shortly after I started in the job my boss told me that a consultant from America was coming out to tell us how to improve safety. His name was Dick Knowles. Having been working for large public companies in the past and being exposed to other consultants my initial reaction was "Here we go again, a consultant who will borrow my watch and tell me the time!"

How wrong I was.

I have had the absolute life changing pleasure and privilege of working with Dick during a 2 week safety facilitator’s workshop, and attending a Safety workshop conducted by Dick on a site that I was responsible for. I have also read and re-read Dicks book- "The Leadership Dance"

During the Training workshop Dick managed to connect with around 30 of us CSR Managers and convince us that there was a different way of managing and leading. Most of us having come from a technical background were accustomed to solve organizational or personal problems as you would if you were repairing a pump. We would have a look at the symptoms of the problem, break the system that was creating the problem into its component parts, fix the part that was not working and put it all back together again. When exactly the same problem reappeared later we could not understand why.
Through Dick’s teachings, anecdotes and practical coaching he has managed to transform me into a person who places far more importance on people, developing better relationships with others, and creating an environment where others can develop better relationships. The amazing thing about Dick’s teachings is that even though it comes from relatively complicated principles the application is extremely simple, effective and common sense.
My experience has not only made me and many others more effective people but also, from my experience, the organization benefits. We stopped injuring people, our product quality improved, the plant was more reliable, we made more money and our shareholders were happier. More importantly we had more fun at work and at home and changes in the organization were far easier to achieve and they happened whether I was involved or not.
I would thoroughly recommend Dick, his book and any organization that he is involved with to any business that wanted to dramatically improve business performance in a sustainable way. I am happy to be personally contacted on the number or email below if anyone wants to discuss this further.

Yours Faithfully
Paul Avey
BE(Hons), MBA, MIPENZ
Phone: +61-7-3803-6156
Email: pavey@totalspan.com.au
16 July 2004

Peter A. Lea, Former Executive Director, United Way of London & Middlesex, London, Ontario:

"Andrew Moyer's insightfulness into complex situations and his ability to articulate ways to deal with them have always made an impression on me in my working with him. His ability to analyze situations is one of his many excellent qualities. This is combined with a strong ability to recommend strategies and an ability to document a prescribed plan of action after the analysis. I would highly recommend Andrew as a consultant in these areas."

Tim Dalmau, The Dalmau Network Group, Australia:
"I have used it (Process Enneagram) in companies and communities in Australia, South Africa, Namibia, New Zealand, Canada, USA, Mexico, Japan, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, China, Germany and Indonesia with groups as diverse as coal miners and steel makers through to lawyers, accountants and those charged with shaping the future of South Africa for the next 20 years. In every single case, I've been able to achieve results that would have been unheard of using other processes."

Mayor Irene J. Elia, Ph.D., City of Niagara Falls, NY:
"Through the use of this dynamic and open support model, we are rebuilding our city located at a Wonder-of-the-World, Niagara Falls."

Barrie Evans, Ph.D., Madame Vanier Children’s Services, London, Ontario, Canada:
"Each week our management group meets and uses the model (Process Enneagram) to co-create a context to help us deal with issues such as funding, difficult clients, interagency relationships, staff morale, etc. Using it (the model), we constantly reaffirm who we are and what we are trying to achieve."

From the 2001 Annual Report, Wellspring House, Inc.:
"Dick and Claire Knowles helped us to express and clarify our deepest reality, engaging board, staff, program participants and volunteers in the conversations. The process wasn't easy; it disturbed some settled ideas, challenged us to experiment and discover; it revealed a healthy and leader-full organization, able to take on its future work with confidence."

From Synergy Group:
"I've been to workshops covering things like this before, but never have I seen it all come together like this."

R.L., Workshop participant in Personal & Professional Path-finding (Lights On! Workshop):
"I would recommend this annually! I think it is important to take a break from the routine and re-discover yourself. Claire (presenter), you're an outstanding workshop leader, who's warmth and caring nature made us open up very easily. Thank you."

From N.G.: Staff Leadership Interaction, Wellspring House:
"Claire--I want to say how much I enjoyed our session on Thursday. It renewed my energy and appreciation for working here at this place, at this time and with these people. I especially liked the range of tones you can use to get your point across, from fun and silly to dead serious...on the topic of discussing personnel issues with each other. You are a terrific trainer! Onward!"