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Circles Methodology
A Strategic Practice for Working and Leading in Complexity
In complex, fast-changing environments, neither leadership nor collaboration can rely on individual insight or hierarchical control alone. Working and leading in complexity requires teams and networks that can reflect, adapt, and act together – often across boundaries, under pressure, and without clear answers.
Circles are a strategic method for building this capacity. Far from being “nice-to-have” reflective spaces, Circles are structured, peer-based forums that enable better thinking, relating, and action – essential infrastructure for developing leaders, shifting culture, and building trust across a system.
What Circles Are
Circles are recurring, facilitated spaces where people come together to:
- Make sense of their experience and current challenges
- Further self-awareness with and through others
- Explore and learn from dynamics, assumptions, and patterns playing out in their day-to-day
- Strengthen understanding and capacity to collaborate across difference and work and lead in uncertainty
Circles draw on methods from action learning, peer coaching, complexity theory and systems thinking, and are anchored in the Collaboration Compass – a practical framework for improving how we think, act, relate and be together.
Why This Matters Now
Most organisations say they want more collaboration, accountability, and distributed leadership. But without sustained spaces to practise these skills, it’s often hard for this to take root with any level of depth and sustainability.
Circles enable:
- Culture change – embedding trust, openness, and shared accountability
- Leadership development – especially for those leading change across boundaries
- System coherence – creating relational ‘glue’ across silos, levels, and functions
- Retention and engagement – reducing burnout by reconnecting people with purpose and peer support
- Faster adaptation – enabling teams to learn and respond more quickly and collectively
- Well-being and resilience – offering space to pause, reflect, and stay connected to what matters amidst the pressure
Curious about Circles?
Whether you're interested in bringing Circles into your organisation or exploring joining one yourself, we're happy to answer any questions you may have. Fill in the form below and we'll be in touch.
The opportunity cost of not doing this?
Fragmented decision-making, unacknowledged tensions, leadership burnout, and shallow collaboration that doesn’t shift system outcomes – all of which contribute to reduced performance, lower levels of innovation, and poor coherence, trust, and connection across the system.
What Makes Circles Different
Common Interventions What Circles Add One-off workshops or trainings Ongoing reflective practice Coaching Group-based leadership across differences Team offsites Deep trust built over time, not in a day Performance reviews Real-time sense-making and peer feedback Circles are not therapy or soft skills training. They are disciplined, facilitated spaces for navigating complexity, building relational intelligence, and improving leadership from the inside-out.
How It Works
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Small, diverse peer groups (5–8 people)
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Monthly 90–120 minute sessions
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Skilled facilitation around the capacities of the Collaboration Compass
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Shared agreements, real work dilemmas, feedback and pattern-spotting
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Optional cross-level or cross-functional matching for broader organisational benefit
Where Circles Sit in Your System
Circles are most powerful when woven into wider strategic efforts such as:
- Cultural transformation programmes
- Talent pipeline development
- Organisational resilience and change-readiness
- Cross-functional or network leadership initiatives
They are a means of embedding and sustaining the capabilities your strategy depends on.
Want to know more?
- We're happy to share more about the process, and how it works, both in organisations and beyond.