Perhaps the biggest challenge for any writer is when they actually hear their words spoken by another – and the first time particularly so! So when Roslyn’s play The Test was chosen as one of the top 110 plays in the Sydney Short + Sweet Festival, we were all on the edge of our seats in sympathy…
The mystique of franchising holds past the (latest) GFC
Does franchising look more than ever to be the new black for small business? asks Tanya van der Wall and Carolyn Evans. Revisiting a paper developed originally for our client, the Australian Business Foundation, the team reviews signals that franchising is becoming a business model in itself, not just a vehicle for growth or a phase…
Preliminary sustainability briefing – Peru
Client: Congregation of the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart First preliminary briefing on sustaining projects in evolving circumstances – Peru Following on the recent visit to Peru to see first hand the projects under way there and assess the microeconomic climate for achieving sustainable capacity development, the team have made a preliminary debrief…
Coffee on the road … somewhere in Peru!
When we say we are multi-lingual in coffee, we really mean it! The latest item in our repertoire came from two weeks in Peru for Managing Director Carolyn Evans and Principal Consultant Tanya van der Wall, on the road for one of our not-for-profit clients. Putting their bodies on the line for the team, they…
Putting the body on the line for the team (again!)
Many of our clients are highly engaged by our commitment to community service – which is not just pro bono work or having the firm kick the tin for a worthy cause. We like to walk this talk with most of the team involved directly in a range of worthy causes, whether through membership, fundraising…
Sustaining projects in evolving circumstances
Client: Congregation of the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart Following on from series of papers developed for the NSW, SA, New Zealand, Queensland and Victoria Provinces to address issues of sustainability in institutional ministries, this work will now be extended to the works under the auspices of the Congregation.
Planning for major change
Client: Institute of the Sisters of Mercy in Australia Following a decision to bring 15 Mercy congregations into a single religious institute, ThinkEvans will be developing a plan to bring the new organisation to fruition by late 2012. ThinkEvans core advice is that implementation should be the first year of a five year plan that…
The importance of breaking ranks in the board room
Carolyn Evans and Tanya van der Wall write about deserving trust – including the part where sometimes that trust requires dissent, and breaking ranks in the board room. Corporate governance has been a topic de jour routinely over the last decade or so. Some attempt to shroud it in professional mystery (perhaps to generate the…
A square is a rectangle but …
Those of us still scarred by primary school maths remember that a square is a rectangle but a rectangle is not a square. And so it goes with decision making, writes Carolyn Evans and Tanya van der Wall, where not all roles in decision making processes are decision making roles. Reviewing past decisions is a crucial…
Sustainability in nonprofit enterprise
Client: Provinces of the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart A series of papers have been developed for the NSW, SA, New Zealand and Victoria Provinces, with Queensland now also under way, to address issues of sustainability in institutional ministries. These organisations are not-for-profit enterprises that work in education, aged care, community services…
All in a day’s work … or study
As they absorb Gen Y, like many employers universities are struggling to understand whether this generation is really any different – or perhaps if the larger challenge is that so many generations are in the workplace simultaneously. For example – are they more selfish and need to be taught the value of contributing to the…
What constitutes consensus?
What constitutes consensus? It rather depends on the context. Carolyn Evans and Tanya van der Wall write about being collegiate but still reaching definitive decisions. Common use of the word ’consensus‘ can be confusing because it implies both an indistinct form of general agreement and connotes the character of any processes by which such agreement might…
Coffee on the (volunteering) road
Q: What do Chicago in winter, San Antonio in a hurricane, and Turin in late spring have in common? A: They are all places on the trail for our intrepid Managing Director while at work for her voluntary service with Zonta International – and rumour has it that they all have stellar coffee culture! “No…
JADHE* 2010 – measuring military justice
Client: Inspector General of the Australian Defence Force JADHE* v3.0 updates and extends the documentation of performance and outcomes of the military justice system in the Australian Defence Force, incorporating a descriptive status to provide “at a glance” summaries. *Justice And Discipline Health and Effectiveness
JADHE*: Extending military justice feedback
Client: Inspector General of the Australian Defence Force Adding Inquiries to the military feedback facility Extending the feedback facility for the Australian Defence Force military justice system, an additional element of the JADHE* project, was today added by ThinkEvans. This element allows Defence personnel and others involved in Commissions of Inquiry to provide feedback on…
Military justice feedback facility extension
Client: Inspector General of the Australian Defence Force As part of the JADHE* project, the online facility by which Defence personnel can provide their feedback on military justice processes has now been extended to encompass inquiry processes. Already open to all personnel who have experienced either a trial or a complaints process, the facility has…
Coffee on the road … in Aotearoa
We try to be polite about it, and not gloat, but one part of our work that we really love is exploring. Exploring a problem is the best deal in town, and when it comes with a side order of coffee in beautiful places, it is easy to do great work and find a fantastic…
Pioneering the next 100 years
Client: Congregation of the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart The paper was presented as a seminar at a national gathering of the Congregation and Provincial Leadership groups in April 2010. Following an earlier paper in April 2009, this session was prepared to assist the national leadership group of the Sisters of St…
All in a good cause!
Putting his body on the line for the team, our office assistant Alan went under the razor out at his university today to shave his head to support research into leukaemia. Go Al! Of course, let us know if you want to contribute to his fundraising for this worthwhile cause.
When too much coffee is really not enough …
In what many thought might be a moderately quiet year due to the much discussed GFC, our fearless leader, Carolyn, took the initiative to go back to uni – a big call when you were last in the hallowed halls of learning along about the time of the last ice age! So February 2009 saw…
Final report: ‘Shaping the Direction’
Client: Institute of the Sisters of Mercy in Australia The results of the survey administered to the full membership body of all Congregations that are members of the Institute was encapsulated in this report to the national leadership body of the Institute. With a participation rate above 80%, this survey has achieved an almost unmatchable…
Never stuck behind the desk
The Sydney Morning Herald today carried this article by Julia Talevski, in which she quoted from an interview with Carolyn Evans, Managing Director of ThinkEvans. The article also carried this image of Carolyn having a coffee meeting with ThinkEvans Principal Consultant Tanya van der Wall at Coogee beach in Sydney’s eastern suburbs. The full article…
Media for military justice feedback
Client: Inspector General of the Australian Defence Force Australian Defence Force newspapers feature the opportunity for individuals to provide their feedback on military justice All three Services newspapers – for the Navy, Army and Air Force – today carried advertisements to bring to the attention of members the new facility to provide feedback about individual…
Military justice feedback goes live
Client: Inspector General of the Australian Defence Force Australian Defence Force – launch of the military justice feedback facility A new facility for the Australian Defence Force military justice system was today taken live by ThinkEvans. The system is online, accessible from any internet-connected computer, and provides members with the opportunity to give feedback about…
Military justice feedback facility launched
Client: Inspector General of the Australian Defence Force Taking the next step in developing a comprehensive picture of the health and effectiveness of the military justice system, IGADF today released for use the online facility by which Defence personnel can provide their feedback on military justice processes. Open to all personnel who have experienced either…
Draft report: ‘Shaping the Direction’
Client: Institute of the Sisters of Mercy in Australia Based on the results of the survey administered to the full membership body of all Congregations that are members of the Institute, this draft report brought to the Reconfiguring Committee the detailed data that supported the report of the Task Group which had been charged to…