A conversation with organisational consulting pioneer Bill Critchley – a pop-up event on Thursday 5 December 2024

Bill Critchley is one of the pivotal influences on my consulting life. I was for many years a director in Ashridge, at that time a leading UK business school, and later a director of Ashridge Consulting. Throughout my time in these roles, Bill’s thinking and practice was a powerful influence on both organisations.

Bill was central to developing the unique blending of complexity, gestalt and action research that helped to shape the consulting work we did in Ashridge Consulting, and the way we ran our practice. It was one of the few times in my life that I have been part of a community of practice that genuinely tried to live the theory that it taught.

Bill created the Ashridge Masters in Organisational Consulting (AMOC), and co-created the Masters in Executive Coaching (AMEC). He was also influential in the creation of the Doctoral programme (ADOC). He has influenced the lives and practice of countless consultants and coaches.

I have many memories of watching Bill work. One snapshot comes to me right now. In one coaching programme he invited participants to volunteer to be coached as an example for the group. A woman said yes, then hesitated for a couple of seconds before coming to the chair.

Bill immediately asked: “ I noticed that you hesitated before coming up. Is that something material to the issue you want to work it?” And indeed, it was. From that moment of “noticing”, a world of inner drama opened, and within a few minutes the woman gained massive insights about her own patterns and developed a way of working with the issue she held.

That was Bill at work. The power of noticing something and letting the client work with that. It’s something that has been important in my consulting life for twenty or more years since, and I owe it to Bill who I came to see as a true master of this craft.

Bill has recently made available to the world an archive of his writing – it is a generous gesture. You can find the archive on Bill’s webpage HERE. I am thrilled that Bill has agreed to be our guest on the December pop-up, where he will be in conversation with another old friend John Higgins. John has been a close colleague of Bill’s, and they have worked and written together for many years.

It promises to be a rich and wonderful exploration of Bill’s work, and of the influences that came together to form Bill as a consultant. He’ll doubtless have a lot of provocation and wisdom for us, he always does. I am looking forward to it very much, and I warmly invite you to sign-up and join us. The link to sign-up is here.