When it fits
The problem has been there a while, and people have learned to live with it.
You’ve tried the usual fixes, and they haven’t held.
The problem is affecting decisions, execution, trust, retention or leadership capacity.
Different people have different explanations for what is wrong — or everyone has settled on one person as the explanation.
You might lead the team, or you might be someone around it. We don’t begin by deciding who is at fault.
You do not have to agree on the diagnosis before we start.
No one has to begin by saying “I’m the problem.” But the people with real influence over the situation have to be willing to hear direct feedback, including an explanation that may challenge the story they came in with. If the goal is simply to prove that someone else is the problem, this work is unlikely to help.
How it works
A first conversation. What you’re seeing, the history, and what you want to be different.
Confidential interviews. We talk privately with selected team members to hear how each person sees it and to understand how the pattern works.
Observation. Where possible, we sit in on a real working meeting, so we see the team and don’t only hear about it.
Direct feedback. We tell the relevant leader or leaders and sponsor what we found — where responsibility appears concentrated, how the team and surrounding system may be reinforcing the pattern, and what has to change. This is the conversation nobody else has had.
A recommendation. What we think should happen next, in a concise written recommendation.
Why people will talk to us
People only say what they’ve learned not to say when it’s safe to say it. So:
We don’t attribute comments to anyone unless that person agrees.
We report patterns and themes, not who said what.
Nothing from the interviews goes into the written recommendation.
Who does the work
You work with both of us. Jared spent more than 18 years inside large organizations, including as Vice President of Product Strategy and Planning at Nissan North America, so what we find lands in terms executives treat as business-relevant. Stacey brings training in marriage and family therapy, so she sees the patterns that are hard to see from inside a team and raises them in a way people can actually hear.
That combination is the point. It lets us connect what the problem is costing the business to the human dynamics keeping it in place, and then deliver the hard truth in a form leaders can act on. More about Jared and Stacey
What you receive
A clear explanation of the pattern that is keeping the team stuck: what is happening, what is sustaining it, where responsibility is shared or concentrated, and what needs to happen next.
We deliver that through direct feedback with the relevant leader or leaders and sponsor, plus a concise written recommendation. The recommendation is one of four things:
no further Kintsugi work is needed
a targeted piece of work with the team
individual leadership work
a deeper engagement
What can follow
Only if the recommendation calls for it: leadership advising, facilitated work with the team, or repairing a specific conflict. We scope the work after the Diagnostic, never before. The next engagement is determined by what the diagnosis shows, not by a pre-set service menu.
Questions we expect
Is this a 360 or an assessment of the leader?
No. We are not scoring an individual leader. The Leadership & Team Diagnostic looks at the leader, the team and the pattern between them to understand what is keeping the problem in place.
Is this therapy?
No. It is assessment, advising and facilitation for leaders and teams. Stacey’s training in marriage and family therapy shapes how we see the patterns between people. It is not the service.
Will the leader know who said what?
We don’t attribute comments, and we report patterns, not quotes. We can’t promise a leader will never work out who raised something, and we tell everyone that before interviews begin.
Does the leader have to agree there’s a problem?
No. The person who calls us may be the leader or someone around them. The leader does need to be willing to hear direct feedback.
What if everyone already knows who the problem is?
We treat that as a hypothesis, not a conclusion. Sometimes one person’s behavior is a major driver. Sometimes the group has focused so heavily on one person that it misses the ways everyone else has adapted to, enabled or reinforced the same pattern. Our job is to determine what is actually happening, not validate the most popular explanation.
What if the feedback isn’t welcome?
The Diagnostic also tests readiness. If the response is denial, blame or retaliation, we may recommend stopping.
How many people do you interview?
Up to nine in the standard Diagnostic. Larger teams are scoped separately.
What does it cost?
A fixed fee, agreed before we start. Travel is billed separately.
How do we start?
With a free conversation with both of us.
“Jared & Stacey gave us the tools to manage our emotional well being as leaders, individuals, and as a team. Our quality, speed, and collaboration have all benefited.”
Megan Neese, Head of UX/UI Research, Waymo
If this is your team, talk with us.
The first conversation is free, and it’s with both of us.