ETHOS
PHILOSOPHY
What does the name NorthFeather represent?
The associated images for NorthFeather are the compass rose and a feather.
You may notice that both of those objects can be used to map the unseen. The compass rose marks a systematic analysis of magnetic forces and allows us to identify where we are on our journey. We know the wind is blowing by the movement of the trees, the waving of the grass, or by watching a feather catch a current. In these images, the unseen is natural and the forces experiential.
THEORY OF CHANGE
When thinking about the unseen and humans, we apply a variety of theories and methodologies to measure and assess where we are as individuals and where we fit into larger structures. This process of integrating and applying theory and methodology allows us to invite transparency, name norms, identify intentions, build empathy, and take action. This builds capacities for innovation and resiliency - both as individuals and in organizations.
We are yet becoming. Marking our journey allows us to build intentional ethos. Applying this ethos to our practices increases our consciousness, ability to identify challenges, and to create innovative, sustainable solutions.
ETHOS
EQUITY & INCLUSION
Cultivating the ability to hold multiple perspectives allows for activated, informed, empathetic, and intentional choice-making to create more diverse, inclusive, and equitable experiences for ourselves and others. By examining underlying assumptions we can challenge our views, increase empathy, and take action.
CREATIVITY & COURAGE
Creativity allows us to imagine innovative responses to circumstances and ideas—and to use different techniques to solve problems. Courage gives us space to take intellectual and creative risks, accepting failure as part of the creative process.
COLLABORATION & COMMUNICATION
Collaboration and communication foster both positive interdependence and individual accountability. Both are rooted in the ability to listen actively and express oneself clearly in spoken, written, non-verbal, visual, and inter-personal domains.
CRITICAL THINKING & REFLECTIVE PRACTICE
Critical thinking and reflective practice enable us to interpret and evaluate information from multiple perspectives—and to analyze, judge, define, question, organize, and prioritize information.
CIVIC ENGAGEMENT & GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE
Being a human in society means working and living with diverse individuals, organizations, and communities, respecting your own and others' personal and cultural histories while recognizing societal structures.
INTEGRATIVE & INTERDISCIPLINARY PROFILES
The increasing complexities of modern culture require that we be able to think, research, and communicate across disciplines throughout everyday life.
EMPOWERED PRACTITIONERS CONSORTIUM
NorthFeather is a member of the Empowered Practitioners Consortium.
Empowered brings together practicing independent consultants and coaches whose work endeavors to uplift humanity through integrative approaches to organization development.
Empowered is built on a set of core values that guide the practice of its members:
- Humanism: Our work is for the purpose of helping organizations become more humane, more humanistic, more human-centered.
- Abundance:
- We believe that we all do better when we all do better.
- We believe that we are more able to enact our value of humanism when we operate in partnership rather than in competition with others in our field.
- We believe our work is necessary and opportunities are plentiful.
- Allocentrism: Our work seeks to benefit the collective more than the individual.
- Generativity: Knowledge sharing is empowering. We seek to support current and future generations of practitioners.
- Respect for Authorship: We honor, cite, credit, and compensate those who produce knowledge and develop original and proprietary work.