Half a dozen times a year Schuitema runs what we call an Open Programme. As the name suggests participants are drawn from a range of organisations, mainly existing Schuitema clients as well as those who are simply curious about the Care and Growth Leadership Model.

The last Open Programme, run in February 2010, was interesting in terms of the make up of participants. Managers from nine companies were in the room representing a broad spectrum of industries – Mining, Manufacturing, Hospitality, Financial  Services and Information Technology. From the world of Finance, there were Corporate, International and Retail bankers. In addition there was a manager from a short term Insurance Brokerage and another from a Credit Solutions Company.

Also on the Programme was the Operations Director of an upmarket Conference/Leisure facility, the Head of Sales for an international manufacturing company and even the owner of a boutique chocolate factory.The four IT professionals were from an organisation awarded the Best Company to Work for in South Africa in 2009 in the IT Category. Last, but not least, was a senior manager currently heading up a critical support function on a Nickel Mine four hours from Johannesburg.

At some point in the two days I reminisced about an Open Programme which I had facilitated five years ago. Back then the delegates would probably have been drawn from ± three companies.The companies themselves would most likely have been in mining and manufacturing; the context in which the Care and Growth model was initially conceived and practically implemented.

This made me think more broadly about what has changed over the 20 years that Schuitema, as an organisational entity, has been in existence? The issue of Intent has remained at the core of everything that we do. Nevertheless the content, process and scope of the work has developed considerably.

Every year new organisations in a variety of contexts, including ones in teaching, the medical profession and the development sector have become interested in both the philosophy and its application.  Several of these organisations have been actively engaged with Schuitema, not just for a few months, but over a number of years. They have, as a result, undoubtedly enriched the perspectives of everyone involved in this work.

From its roots in the South African gold mining industry the Model has been tested both in diverse organisations and also in different countries. At last count the Model has had exposure in 17 countries and on four continents. And yet, none of the developments over the last 20 years could be said to be cataclysmic in nature. Some developments, at the time that they happened, were virtually imperceptible. Others were more noteworthy, but hardly dramatic.

On reflection everything that has transpired over the last two decades has been incremental. Where Schuitema, and all those associated with it are at today, is the sum effect of an ongoing series of mini steps made diligently and persistently over a considerable period of time. There has been no great leap forward. There has been no one thing which changed everything overnight.

That this has been Schuitema’s experience is, I think, most appropriate. Moreover it epitomises what we have borne witness to over the years. Namely, that organisations do not transform in an instant. Collective changes, at least those which are more than skin deep, take time to eventuate. They need to be cultivated, deliberately and carefully over a long period of time.

A change in organisational culture typically takes between five and seven years, if you are lucky. This is an old rule of thumb but is, I believe, still valid today.  This is because people are still people. Irrespective of advances in technology, humans require time to respond to and adapt to change. Moreover, people in organisations do not conveniently change simultaneously and en masse. Every individual is different and transformation of a collective only happens one person at a time.

At Schuitema we have a metaphor for this which is called “the blue cheese analogy”. What begins as a tiny speck of blue advances, bit by bit, until a point is reached when at last the cheese becomes “blue cheese”. Care and Growth in an organisation happens in similar fashion. Neither a dictate from on high nor a turbo speed force feed of managers and staff through a series of workshops has, from our experience, ever produced an organisation which embodies the principles and spirit of Care and Growth.

Care and Growth actually begins when one or more individuals, having been exposed to the model, go away and do something with it. The results they realise from doing so not only personally encourages them to continue but provides an example for others to follow.

What is fascinating about this process is that it is almost impossible to predict who the first individual (s) will be. This is because the maturation of intent is a matter of individual choice and has nothing to do with background, qualification or position in an organisational hierarchy. Like the speck of blue in the not yet blue cheese, the germination of Care and Growth happens slowly and takes time to be noticed. At some point however it takes root and gathers momentum. Eventually a point is reached when some sort of critical mass is achieved. This landmark is not necessarily quantifiable but you can sense it – you can see it, feel it, smell it – just like a good piece of blue cheese!