Decision & Interaction Analysis
DIA – based on Action Profiling®.
Most issues of concern involve ways in which individuals, and the aggregate of the Board or Executive, impact the business. We do not use one of the myriad psychometrics to assess members of the group.
Instead we use our Decision & Interaction Analysis (DIA) which identifies the core thinking pattern of each person. It details our motivation to concentrate on different parts of the decision-making process. It explains how we interact with others. It supports and underpins the psychometric tools that we use. It can highlight the reasons behind past successes and failures in an objective and non- threatening way.
Decision & Interaction Analysis (DIA) is used in Fast Track to Performance. Find out more about this here.
Background to Decision & Interaction Analysis
Rudolf von Laban, (1879 – 1958) was one of the great theorists and practitioners of movement. He laid down a system (Labanotation) for recording the analysis of how the human body moves in space and to ascribe value to its movements, releasing the expressive power contained in each of them. Because of this, other disciplines have been able to develop their understanding and use of movement in their own spheres. His work raised the esteem in which dance movement had been held and in the wider field, of education, psychology, and management.
Laban fled from the Nazis in 1938, finding refuge with the Elmhirst family at Dartington Hall, Devon where he met a management consultant F.C. Lawrence and began supporting the war effort to increase production in British factories e.g. Tyresoles, Mars.
Dance was at a standstill as a profession, but movement study was still possible: Laban and Lisa Ullman set up the Art of Movement Studio in Manchester. From here Laban recommended Warren Lamb, one of his students, to respond to a request for remedial exercises for factory workers, whose repetitive work needed to be balanced to retain their efficiency and their health.
Warren Lamb, a keen observer and analyst, saw that some workers were not in fact tired by their work, and realised that Laban’s analysis revealed individual movement styles. He saw that when a person combined the same qualities of Posture (body shape which is adapted to the task in hand) and the Gestures (the movements that carry out the task) the person is being their authentic selves. This Posture Gesture Merging pattern does not change over a lifetime. Critically for the eventual use of the Action Profile®, Warren Lamb found that he could also analyse people in management. It was a concept of genius that equated Movement Analysis with the Decision-Making process. The Action Profile® was born.
His own students included Pamela Ramsden, a psychology graduate, who, as his business partner, continued to develop Warren Lamb’s work including how people Interact with others; gave the name to Dynamism – the need to undertake multiple tasks; and to Adaptability – the natural ability to cope with new situations. Dr Judith Kestenberg, a child psychologist, wanted to understand neonatal communication, so trained with Warren Lamb. The Kestenberg Movement Profile was developed; a comprehensive tool for understanding human movement from birth to adulthood. Pamela Ramsden and Dr Kestenberg brought academic rigour and recognition to both profile systems.
It is this branch of Laban/Lamb/Ramsden’s work which enables qualified members of Action Profile® International to help Management teams work more productively together, and with a better understanding of how individual needs and Profiles can be combined to best effect. As qualified members of Action Profile®, Kennedy has built on this work to develop the Decision & Interaction Analysis which it has used to support clients in improving both personal performance and organisational effectiveness.
Kennedy Services Overview
Kennedy offers four main services: Breaking the Stalemate, Board & Executive Performance Audit, Fast Track to Performance and Governance & Oversight. Here you can see how the Kennedy Effective Top Team Leadership strategies fit into the services.
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Lisa Wallis, Director of People and O.D at Community Health Partnerships
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Karen Malone, Deputy CEO (Governance), Department of Health and Social Care, Isle of Man Government
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