From GPWiki
Monday 08 of February, 2010
[edit] Who Are We?
[edit] The Team at Group Partners. We've mostly come from large complex multi-national enterprises and governments. We decided that the world needed to think and work differently. Especially in the current climates.
Group Partners Values and Best Practice Principles
If you would like further details about Group Partners please contact John Caswell via email or Kevin Hoffberg for US enquiries
[edit] Operation
John Caswell
John Caswell -
My Most Recent Biography... - John's role is to guide our client assignments by applying our methods
Structured Visual Thinking™ and
4D™. John is responsible for Innovation together with the Visual and Strategic direction of
Group Partners. He adds many years of business experience and ensures that we remain impartial to any outcome and maintain the widest possible context to the conversations we need to have.
The original shot that launched the BBC Micro - my first proper job... In John's own words:
"I'm curious about everything to do with great design, smarter thinking and creativity. The important bits - Art Degree Cambridge, helped the early start up of Acorn Computers and helped to launch the BBC Microcomputer, created my own businesses and eventually sold that business to WPP Group plc and then left it all behind to form Group Partners in 2001. Basically I'm passionate about helping complex businesses to create (their own) better thinking through creating visual frameworks, structures and maps to help them make the critical decisions - figuring out a better future."
“Don’t mistake the map for the territory. Don’t imagine that we know more than we actually do, just because we have a map. The map gets us close to knowing what we know but we must not be blind to what we don’t know. That is where true opportunity lies.” - John Caswell
Hazel Tiffany
"An architecture for thinking through a complex hierarchy for a telecommunications assignment. This illustrates the way I think" - Hazel’s role is to develop the context and structure that emerges from client assignments then develop meaningful and relevant outcomes that enable the business to deliver against their goals. This is done through 2 components of
4D/SVT –
Contextual Analysis and
Information Design – which are applied at various stages within each assignment. The rest of her time is spent developing the Practice and converting latest thinking into new offerings.
In Hazel's own words:
"I Joined Group Partners in 2004 after 26 years in Central Government, the latter years spent developing system and service architectures to support cross functional operational requirements. During that time I experienced the frustration of working in silos and the lack of alignment between strategy, policy and operations. Over the last five years I have worked with John to develop many of the important developments of 4D and am constantly exploring new ways that we can apply our philosophy to helping clients deal with the complexity of today's business.
Within Group Partners I have built on my experiences and personal beliefs developing a competence within the Practice that focuses specifically on making best use of complex, multi dimensional information. I instinctively seek the structures, patterns, clues and contexts inside the insights we uncover. My focus is on creating understanding and value in a way that can be used to design 'frameworks' for better decision making and tangible outcome, and then determine how to communicate these outcomes simply and accurately to multiple audiences."
See Pattern Recognition, Information Design, Visualism
Alan Mather
Alan Mather has worked extensively with Group Partners since early 2008 as CIO and on client engagements. His expertise in best practice in business strategy & process, technology and e-government has proved itself invaluable to over 30 governments and numerous corporations worldwide.
Before joining the team, Alan’s main role was the delivery of a £200 million, IT programme for defra and Natural England that manages payments for Environmental Stewardship programmes. Alongside defra he also worked for a Nasdaq-listed American software company, the Ministry of Justice and several smaller clients.
Alan speaks regularly at national and international conferences speaking on the challenges of big project delivery, approaches to managing business change successfully and a variety of other topics. '
In Alan’s own words:
“I’m a sometime e-government pioneer who still takes an active and, some might say, critical view of things online (and even offline when the mood strikes). While working inside government I was responsible for a number of firsts –first multi department-funded IT infrastructure, first joined-up government website, first (and second and third) sale of government-developed software to foreign nations… – expertise that has enormous potential within the private sector.”
Alan’s e-government and other things blog is at: Alan's Blog
Amanda Bravo
Amanda Bravo - Amanda's primary role is logistics, effectiveness of time and ensuring the best performance of each team by dealing with key administrative and practice based tasks. Amanda has extensive knowledge of the Group Partners organisation, its resources, partners and Expert Network and is in constant contact with the key personnel both internally and externally. The practice relies heavily on these functions and processes. Discretion and confidentiality are essential.
Ian Francis
Ian Francis - Group Partners has, and will always, place great importance in the role of visual design within the business organisation. The role of the Research & Development Studio is therefore critical to the way in which the company works. As Head of this Studio, it's Ian's responsibility to assure that all new media, technology and thinking is as good as it can possibly be at putting across its message. Good design is about good communication - that's something everybody benefits from.
In Ian's own words: "In a previous life I worked in various London-based design agencies, aquiring a wide range of skills across the diverse disciplines of the design world. Print, interactive, video, sound, relational database design, cd rom, etc, etc. This experience will prove invaluable now as I go forward into the world of design R&D. Getting across the appropriate message using the appropriate medium with the appropriate design is sometimes not as easy as you might think. How often have you received a Powerpoint presentation that has fogged the message rather than clarified it? Remember, less is more."
Andrew Morgan
Andrew Morgan - Andrew is highly proficient in many fields within the design discipline. Andrew is now Head of Studio and as a senior manager within Group Partners, responsible for the professional and efficient running of this aspect of the business. Over the years he has worked as a print designer and visual designer of complex information. He has acquired a wide and varied range of skills and worked with the principals of the business for nearly 20 years.
Jo Brittan
Jo Brittan - Jo is responsible for managing all large programs of work through Operations and the development of SVT Live Systems™ at a project level. As our Operations Manager this involves delivering documentation and systems to agreed outcomes, deadlines and standards; managing the review of all work coming out of the studio, ensuring that all feedback is considered and where appropriate included; quality checking all work before its release to the client both for errors and in terms of its Structured Visual Thinking approach; and program managing all work through Operations – from the creation of Statements of Work to liaison on financial systems.
Ellie Beale
Ellie Beale - Ellie, who gained her honours degree in Graphic Design and Illustration at Hertfordshire University in 2006, is primarily responsible for handling our information design collateral, branding and templates. She is an experienced print and web designer and worked in both agency and client environments before joining Group Partners in 2008.
Tessa Bali
Tessa Bali - Tessa, who graduated with honours in Graphic Design from University College Falmouth, worked on several design placements before and during her degree course, including time at Rufus Leonard and ArthurSteeneAdamson. After graduating in 2006, she went straight into a placement at Minale Tattersfield Design Strategy in Richmond where she worked on a variety of print, branding and packaging projects and learnt from designers with great vision. Tessa’s first design role was at Springetts Brand Design Consultancy as a junior packaging designer where she experienced working for many large brands in a large agency. Work here included client liaison as designers managed their own projects. Tessa joined Group Partners in 2008.
Chris Baker
Chris Baker - Chris worked in motion graphic design and the production of small films before joining Group Partners as Multi-Media Designer in 2008. Interested in all things visual, musical and literary, he is responsible for the production of 3D animations, 3D elements within print design and Vizmo production. When not creating moving solutions for web/video-based outcomes, he can be found listening to Radiohead, Bob Dylan, Fairport Convention or Autechre while watching any of the films of Lynch, Herzog or Kubrick or reading some Huxley, Chandler or one of Kafka's short stories.
Sarah Gall
Sarah Gall - Sarah's role is an eclectic mix of writer, editor, thinker and general wordsmith. She has a background in publishing project management and many years' experience of business writing of all kinds. Although for the most part, Sarah's contribution happens behind the scenes, when the need arises, she also acts as capturer in
4D™ sessions. In addition she is a translator (French to English) and artist photographer.
More about Sarah on:
Sarah's writing
Sarah's photography
Kevin Hoffberg
Kevin Hoffberg is the Managing Director of Group Partners in the US, a Senior Black Belt, on the board and has 7 years history with Group Partners. He has deep experience with Decision Quality, strategy and change, and strategic account selling, particularly in services and high tech. American and based in Seattle Washington.
In Kevin’s own words:
“I believe you should bring your soul to work. I believe in the importance of doing good and meaningful work. I believe we're here to make a contribution. Given the amount of time most of us spend working or thinking about work, if we don't find it soulful and meaningful, why are we doing it?” [more]
Kevin's stuff:
kevin's personal website
kevin's blog
kevin's motorcycle blog
[edit] Expert Network
We have an extensive Expert Network which means that we are virtually unlimited in resources. We work within the principle of complete solution neutrality and only agree to develop longer term relationships when there is total agreement..
