Contextual Mapping: A Consulting Intervention for Getting Clients on the Same Page

Management consultants constantly search for faster and better ways to analyze the causes of complex organizational problems and fully engage the client system in powerful discussions to achieve useful and sustainable solutions. This paper uses four case stories to illustrative the process, value, and theory-reinforcing foundations of a relatively simple contextual mapping intervention – a qualitative, visual tool depicting the client organization’s presenting issues (both objective and emotional) in the actual words of its members in a way that a report may be unable to convey as easily or powerfully. The process draws from multiple streams of literature: organization learning and change, action science/research, and adult learning. It involves converting themes uncovered through interviews with a cross section of organization employees into a tentative graphic depiction of these issues, followed by a feedback session involving inquiry, testing and confirmation, and a discussion of next steps focused on ...