You’ve invested in leadership development before. We know why it didn’t stick–and what it takes to create lasting change.
There’s a moment of clarity at the offsite. Real conversation. Everyone leaves energized, committed to doing things differently. Then Monday happens. Within weeks you’re back in the same patterns.
When a leader walks back into a team with its own patterns, the system often pulls them back to old behaviors. You can’t change team dynamics one person at a time.
Behavior change requires repetition in the actual environment where behavior needs to happen.
Understanding why someone behaves a certain way doesn’t tell you what to do when that behavior derails a conversation.
When you’re in a tense meeting with real stakes, knowing a framework doesn’t mean you can access it.
To change team dynamics, you have to work with the whole team together, over time. We address the patterns that belong to the system.
Real change happens through repeated practice—trying new moves, getting feedback, adjusting. We work over months, not days.
Your business challenges become the curriculum. You learn by working differently on things that matter.
Structural Dynamics provides a way to see and shift conversations while they’re happening—not just analyze them afterward.
Structural Dynamics is a research-based framework developed by David Kantor over 50 years of studying how conversations actually work. It reveals the deep structure beneath every conversation—and gives you practical tools to intervene when things go sideways.
Action patterns
Move, Follow, Oppose, Bystand—understanding the four moves in every conversation.
Operating systems
Open, Closed, Random—the norms for how we interact with others.
Communication stances
Power, Meaning, Affect—the values that drive the language we use.
The power of Structural Dynamics is that it makes the invisible visible. Once you can see patterns, you can name them. Once you can name them, you can choose differently. And once your team shares this language, you can shift dynamics together.
If you’re reading this with some skepticism, good. Skepticism is warranted. The leadership development industry is full of promises that don’t deliver.
Here’s our honest take: this work isn’t for everyone. It requires real commitment—from you, from your team, over months. It asks people to look at themselves, not just everyone else. It’s uncomfortable before it’s better.
For teams that do commit fully, the results are significant. Not because we have magic—but because we’ve found a way to help teams actually practice the behaviors that matter, in the context where those behaviors matter, with enough repetition and support that new patterns become real.
The question isn’t whether this could work for your team. The question is whether your team is ready to do the work.
If this resonates, here’s how to explore further:
15 minutes to discuss what’s happening with your team, what you’ve tried, and whether our approach might help. No pitch, no pressure.
Listen to the Defining Moments of Leadership podcast or read Marsha’s books on facilitation and leading change. Get a sense of our thinking and whether it speaks to you.
